Xenogears: A Novelization
by Aver1us
Summary: A novelization-in-progress of Xenogears. Please read and review, so I know that my writing is not in vain.
1. Prologue

_DISCLAIMER: This is a novelization-in-progress of the masterpiece Xenogears from SquareSoft. I do not own the content of this, save for maybe the way I described "how" something happened. All characters, speech, and storyline are exclusive property and copyrighted by SquareSoft._

_Prologue_

_ "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last."_

Space. A dark void of nothingness, frequently decorated by the gleam of stars. A spec appeared in the distance. Soon the speck grew into a very large gray spacecraft. It was the Eldridge. A bay marked E-5 could be seen along the top of the bow. A light flashed followed by the words "DANGER!" The bay snapped shut. The bridge, normally emanating a warm yellow glow, suddenly flashed red. It was in a state of extremely high tension, almost chaos. Red warning lights flashed persistently, demanding attention on the monitors. Something was very wrong.

"Emergency. Level one alert," spoke a woman's voice in a monotone. The ship's computer.

"Omega 1 restarting. Alpha 1 G-Nome...restructuring," said a woman with blonde hair. She appeared to be the chief operator of the ship. "Confirming exon replacement. Base code 85 million, 100 million! Its speed is overwhelming!"

"Alpha 1 to Razael Central. Access confirmed. Initializing fake net - disconnected! Activating emergency shelter...denied." said another operator.

On the monitor, a red line was streaking through blue cell-shaped bays as the operator spoke as fast as the red line spreads. The red line appeared to be the "contamination" they were speaking of. As it got close to the center of its destination, it suddenly was rerouted.

"Contamination is spreading widely," said the chief operator. "Captain?"

The operator turned to the captain sitting at the back of the bridge. The captain wore a uniform not unlike that of a naval officer, a fairly aged man with brown hair, a mustache and a small beard. He turned his head in response to her. His reply to the operator was as calm as the operator's speech had been frantic.

"Cut off the cables manually."

"Roger. Activating self-destruct ports." The operator twisted a red knob, flipped a clear protective shield next to it, and pushed the button underneath. The button itself was labeled "CAUTION" and encircled with black and yellow stripes. Somewhere on the ship, a piece of the bulkhead shot out from the wall, severing the high-voltage connections underneath. However, an electrical surge must've occurred because an electrical arc occurred between the severed terminals. "Confirming? No good, nothing happened!"

"Omega 1, they are attacking! We can't stop them. 98 percent of our weapons have been taken over!" the second operator warned.

Throughout the chaos of all this, the captain was silent and still as he listened to the reports. The chief operator was struggling but managed to sound somewhat calm as she began to report what she was seeing on a holographic image in front of her.

"The auto pilot system, Deus, has been accessed and its phase space logic is being rewritten. Argo-area is increasing. An internal plane is forming. Switching to space displacement mode." The chief operator continues as a hologram of a sphere of some sort appears in front of her face. "Alpha 1, confirming transfer coordinate codes. Coordinates input, coordinate NX128EZ061. The main planet!"

"Damn. So they're planning on attacking," said the captain as he rose to his feet. He looked gravely concerned now. He picked up the phone next to his command module. "Engine room, activate the emergency sealing system. Engine room? Engine…!"

In the engine room, the telephone bobbed on the end of its line. Then suddenly, the phone fell to floor harmlessly, its line cut. Electrical cables danced erratically on the floor.

The captain frowned, and then slowly hung the phone up. Quite suddenly, and without warning, a message scrolled down every line of the main screen repeating over and over. "YOU SHALL BE AS GODS." The bridge personnel stared at the monitor in stunned silence. The message reflected in red over and over again across the captain's eyes. He broke the silence quickly.

"See that all civilians and passengers are safely transported to the escape shuttles. I will send a dispatch after evacuation is complete. I am evacuating the ship. All of you. Evacuate...now."

The captain threw a crisp salute as the operators looked on him in confused disbelief. Red klaxons all over the ship went off and the ship's main computer began the evacuation sequence warnings.

"Evacuate. Evacuate. Evacuate the ship immediately... All passengers please board the shuttles in a calm and orderly fashion," droned the main computer.

Absolute chaos broke loose. It appeared to be close to bedlam. Many people were running over the skybridge inside the ship, while astronauts outside observed the pandemonium while doing their own tasks. Soon, a ship took off with passengers in it, and zoomed out the launch dock. It flew over the hull of the Eldridge, until all of a sudden it exploded in flames of orange fire. The ship's automatic weapons defenses had activated and were murdering its own passengers. The captain looked through the main window in horror as the screen faded still repeating"YOU SHALL BE AS GODS." Suddenly cables burst through the ship's hull and waved lazily about in the void of space. Whatever was causing the problems on the ship, it was in almost complete control at this stage. The captain slumped into his chair desperately.

Seeing that there was little left he could do, the captain pulled out a gold pocket watch and looked sorrowfully at the picture embedded in the case. It was a picture of a mother and a daughter, smiling. His family. He managed a sad smile at the picture that no one could see. They looked very similar to each other, both beautiful in their own way. But he couldn't dwell on this. He knew what he had to do. He sat down at the main console and a screen opened up in front of him. The pocket watch sat silently on the window sill behind him. After but a moment's hesitation that seemed like an eternity to the captain, he pressed several buttons. He leaned back in his chair. The pocket watch lay silently behind him.

Violently, the ship exploded beginning from the stern and working its way up to the bow. Pieces of burning bulkhead and semi-molten metal streaked towards a ring-encircled world below it.

A few hours later, on the surface of the alien world, pieces of the Eldridge were still falling from the sky. A chunk of the ship landed on a small swamp next to the ocean and was a smoking, burning ruin. Born from the wreckage, "she" crawled out, naked. Sadly, she gazed out to the ocean, her eyes reflecting back the falling sparks of the pieces of the ship that has fallen to this world. The sparks continued to fall like falling stars into the ocean, as the sun rose to greet a new day... and a new inhabitant.


	2. Lahan

_DISCLAIMER: This is a novelization-in-progress of the masterpiece Xenogears from SquareSoft. I do not own the content of this, save for maybe the way I described "how" something happened. All characters, speech, and storyline are exclusive property and copyrighted by SquareSoft._

_Lahan Village  
_

The continent of Ignas, in the northern hemisphere of our world. On this, the largest continent, a war has been raging between two countries for hundreds of years. In the north of the continent lies the Kislev Empire, in the south lies the desert kingdom of Aveh. The war has gone on for so long that the people have forgotten the cause, knowing only the pointless circle of hostility and tragedy.

The chronic war obsession was soon to encounter a devastating change. This was due to the 'Ethos', an institution that preserves our world's culture, repairing tools and weapons excavated from the ruins of an ancient civilization. At once both countries excavated these ruins, and had the 'Ethos' repair the discoveries, in order to increase their military power.

The various weapons excavated from the ruins greatly changed the form of warfare. The outcome of the battles between the two countries was no longer determined by man-to-man combat, but by 'Gears' - giant humanoid fighting machines - that were obtained from deep within the ruins.

Eventually, after continuous swings in the state of the war, Kislev gained the upper hand. The major factor behind this lay in the enormous difference in the amount of resources buried within their ruins. But suddenly a mysterious military force appeared in the continent of Ignas. Called 'Gebler', this force decided to make contact with Aveh.

With the assistance of this Gebler military force, Aveh was able to recover from being hopelessly outnumbered to being back on an even standing with Kislev. Then, taking further advantage of its newly gained momentum, Aveh started to capture one territory after another from Kislev, showing no indication of slowing down in their invasion campaign.

The remote village of Lahan, in the outskirts of Aveh, near the border with Kislev. This is where it all begins.

Fire. Fire was everywhere. Villagers were running everywhere as the village burned. The sounds of gunfire were heard all around. A gear stood in a defensive stance surrounded by white gears.

"Damn you!" yelled the black gear's pilot. "Hiyaaaaa!"

He knocked down one of the white gears.

"That's one down?" The gear got back up, as if it wasn't harmed. "What on earth are you? No matter how often I knock you down you still get up!"

On the ground a man in his twenties was yelling at the black gear as best he can.

"Fei! Stop! You must not fight here!" he yelled

The opposing Gear fired a few rounds at Fei's Gear. The man ducked instinctively even though the shots were way over his head.

"Guh! Boy are you persistent!" said Fei. He knocked the opposing gear down again. "Damn it! How come...? Why did it have to come to this?"

The day before…

A picture of flames sits on its mount, an exotic blend of red, orange, and yellow. It looks like it had been worked on for a long time.

"Whew! That about does it…" said Fei as he set his brush down. He looked around briefly and then stretched his arms. "Alright…now for a short break."

Fei turned around and walked into the next room, the maid was working in the kitchen. The maid heard him come in and greeted him warmly.

"Hello, Fei. You're looking well today. My, how time flies! Why, it has already been 3 years since you came to our village...When they first saw you brought in all bloody and soaken, to tell you the truth, they didn't think you were going to make it. And that strange masked man who carried you here that day...Do you think that maybe he was your real father? Don't you remember anything? Why, they say you had terrible nightmares and constantly called out for your father."

Fei stopped for a moment to reflect on this. It was three years ago. It was windy and rainy as a blue caped man walked up Lahan's path to a door and knocked on it.

"Who is it?" a voice asked from inside. The door opened and Chief Lee stepped outside. "Who are you?" He noticed that the man was holding Fei. "...What? You want me to look after this boy?"

"But now, you're so healthy and strong…And it's all thanks to our village chief, Lee. My, should you be grateful!" Her sudden words brought Fei back to the present. He decided to go upstairs.

Timothy, his best friend happened to be visiting with the Chief when he walked him. Timothy waved him over.

"Yo! Hi there, Fei. Sorry for us all using your house like this. But, we have to talk about the big day tomorrow with the village chief."

"Yeah tomorrow, huh… Your wedding with Alice! Now that is a big day!"

"Yeah… right… But it still hasn't hit me a reality though,' said Timothy.

Suddenly Fei wanted to thank him.

"Hey, errh, Timothy. I just want to thank both you and Alice... 3 years ago, I woke up in this village without a trace of my memory... I didn't know who I was, where I had been, or what I had been doing up until that day... I couldn't recall a single thing..." Fei looked at the floor. "Despite that, you and Alice sympathized with me and encouraged me to go on. If the two of you hadn't been there for me, I don't know what would have become of me…" He looked up at Timothy now, straight in the eyes. "Timothy…from the bottom of my heart, I thank you! Now, you and Alice had better live happily ever after!"

Timothy laughed at him, but it wasn't a cruel laugh.

"Hah! Quit it will ya! You don't have to go and get all mushy on me… Anyway, to me it feels like I've always been friends with you ever since we were kids." Timothy nodded at him. "And we will go on being friends forever, right?"

"Of course!" exclaimed Fei.

"Oh yeah, Fei… Could you stop by and check on Alice? I still have stuff to discuss with my old man and the village chief. But I'm sure she'll be glad to have some company."

"Yeah, sure! I'll do that... Anyway, I'll see you later. Oh, and I am really looking forward to the ceremony tomorrow."

Fei turned around to and started to walk out the door. But as soon as he put his hand on the knob, the door burst open, knocking him in the forehead. A small, obnoxious looking kid barged in.

"So there you are! Fei, I have to talk to you about something!" he exclaimed.

"Why, hello there Dan! You're lively today...as you are everyday!" greeted Fei.

Timothy turned around and scolded Dan, "Dan! Don't be so rude. What's this barging in and all?"

"Argh! Timothy's here too," grumbled Dan. Timothy stared at him for a second. "Butt out, Timothy! Until you marry my sister, you have nothing to do with me at all! I just have some business here with my friend Fei!" Dan turned back to Fei long enough to say, "So anyway Fei, I err... I have something to talk to ya about later..."

Fei looked at him skeptically for a second, putting his hands on his hips. "What is it, Dan? It sounds serious!"

"Yeah, that's why I can't talk about it here... There's a certain person listening in who could cause us trouble...! It's really important! We gotta talk, seriously, one-on-one, man-to-man" I'll be hanging around outside. So I'll see ya there later, OK!" Dan turned back to Timothy, "Be seein' ya, Timothy! Take care of yourself until tomorrow..."

Fei turned to Timothy, "Huh? What's up with him?"

"As of tomorrow, I'm going to be that kid's brother-in-law... Hah! That part isn't going to be no honeymoon!"

Timothy turned back to whatever he was doing. Fei decided that it would be best not to bother him, so he turned around and stepped out the door. The sun was shining brightly, and the village was in a bustle. Children were playing everywhere in beaten path that separated the houses. Nearby, a woman milked her bullcow. Fei smiled. He had only been here for 3 years, but it seemed like he had lived there all his life. He spotted Dan wondering around near the local pub, looking businesslike. Apparently he had something in mind. Fei walked up to him to see what it was he wanted.

"Oh good, Fei! Ya ready to talk" inquired Dan. Without waiting for a response, he continued. "As you know, tomorrow's finally the day of my sister's wedding... So, what I want to talk to you about is exactly that... Alice's marriage" Dan looked down at the ground. "Fei, to be perfectly honest with you... I've always wished you could have been my brother." He looked back up at Fei. "It's still not too late. You could go steal Alice and run off with her! If you need me to help, I'd be glad to! It may be odd for me to say this, but my sister's beautiful and a good cook..." He paused for a moment, and then whispered into Fei's ear"And this is just between you and me but, she's well endowed too! Heh heh heh"

He looked completely serious. Was he for real? Fei pondered on this for only a few moments before Dan interrupted his thoughts.

"So c'mon! Go for it"

Fei decided that even though Dan was acting seriously, he was going to gauge his reaction by playing along. "Alright Dan, you've got it...I guess I'll just go sweep Alice away and make a run for it"

Dan looked surprised for a few moments. This wasn't the answer he was expecting. Quickly, he regained his composure. "Really? I knew I liked you, Fei! That's the spirit" However, he must've realized something, because he once again looked down at the ground."... But, if only it was that easy...It's not like we can change their feelings... And you would need to have love for her too... But, I'm not gonna forget this, Fei! You were really willing to go that far to help me... Fei, you're a good guy" He seemed rather pleased with this conclusion.

Fei remembered that Timothy had asked him to keep Alice company. He bid Dan goodbye and sauntered over to Alice's house, which happened to be directly across the pathway from his own. Outside, there was a maid guarding the door. It was Lahan custom not to allow men to see the bride before the wedding night. But since Fei was not born in Lahan, he was often dismissed from said customs. He greeted the maid warmly and asked to be let in to see Alice.

"Why, hello Fei. Are you here to see Alice? Actually, it's customary that we don't let any men in to see the bride today... But, you can be an exception." The maid stepped aside, but not before she jokingly warned him"You know you won't come out in one piece if you try and pull anything on the bride"

Alice and her brother Dan lived in a fairly large hut when compared to the other huts in Lahan. They were considered a fairly well-to-do family. Immediately to the right there was a kitchen complete with the appliances required to cook a decent sized meal for a family. Alice's aunt was busily making food for the next day's ceremonies. Further off and to the left was the living area. It was a tastefully decorated area with some potted plants in the far corner. Fei greeted Alice's aunt, who appeared to be rather busy. However, it looked as if she was looking for a reason for a break in her feverish work.

"Why hello, Fei. Have you come to visit our Alice? She's upstairs right now." She paused for a second, as if she was remembering something. She looked somewhat depressed. "But doesn't time fly...? It has already been ten years since my brother and his wife passed away. We did our best to raise the two children in their place... But now, as far as Alice is concerned, I can finally say my job is done. I know Timothy will take good care of her from here on...Now all that's left is Dan... I'm going to have a hard time raising him to adulthood." She sighed, and absentmindedly returned to her work, apparently forgetting that Fei was even there. Fei walked up the stairs that lead to Alice's room. He found her examining a beautiful dress that was draped on a stand next to a window that was overlooking the path below. It was obvious that she had made it herself because she was still stitching a few places secure. She didn't see Fei as he walked in.

"Hello, Alice. Is that your wedding dress" asked Fei.

Alice jumped, as if startled, and then turned to face Fei. A man was the last thing she was expecting to see today. However, her surprise ebbed away when she realized who it was. "Oh? Fei, you startled me" She glanced back at the dress behind her. It was a beautiful white woven dress with wide sleeves and long flowing fabric on the bottom. Remembering what Fei had asked, she answered his question"Yes it is... I just finished it. It took more work than I expected."

Fei looked it up and down. It was exquisite work. It must've taken months for her to finish. After all, making something such as a wedding dress required as much artistic skill as it took to draw the landscapes that he commonly painted. "Hmmm... You did a great job there! It'll look wonderful on you, Alice...Congratulations."

Alice turned around and walked a step towards Fei, then looked down at the carpet. There was something on her mind too. "Thank you..." Then she turned back to face him. She opened her mouth to say something, but Fei had also tried to speak.

"Oh, um, Fei..."

"Hey, uh, Alice..."

There was an awkward silence as they stared at one another for a few moments. Fei was the first to regain his composure, and broke the silence.

"What is it?"

Alice looked back at the ground away from Fei, while he stared at another section of the wall. Another awkward pause ensued. This time it was her who broke the silence.

"Oh, nothing..."

Fei was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. Something was troubling Alice, as well as himself. He felt confused.

"I see..."

Alice looked up, but still not directly at Fei. "Um... Oh yes, that's right... Fei, have you seen Dan"

Fei nodded. "Yeah, he's outside... bragging as always."

"Ugh, that kid! I just told him that I had an errand for him to run" said Alice, rather disgusted.

"Oh yeah? What kind of errand" Fei inquired.

"It's for my wedding ceremony tomorrow... I was hoping he could go borrow a camera and some lights from Doctor Uzuki, up on the mountain peak."

"If that's all it is, I'll be glad to do it for you."

"Could you? Oh, but I couldn't possibly..."

"Don't worry! It's no problem" interjected Fei. "Anyway, it doesn't exactly make me feel comfortable having Dan handle such delicate instruments. What's more, I might have a chance to eat some of Yui's cooking if I go to the doc's place."

Alice laughed"Hee-hee...that's my Fei!"

"Well, I'll go up there now and get them for you"

Fei turned around and started walking out the door. Alice watched him for a second, and then suddenly burst out, "Oh... Fei, wait..."

He turned around, looking a little puzzled. "Huh...? Is there something else you want me to get from Citan"

"No... It's not that..." said Alice as she looked at the dress, and then at the carpet. ""Fei... Have you ever thought about things this way" She walked back to the dress, and ran her fingers down the hems along the sides. "If... If, you had only been born in this village... And if we had only known each other earlier on..."

Fei was taken aback. Quickly, he turned back towards the wall opposite Alice, willing the blood to stop pumping to his face. She didn't need to see his embarrassment.

"... Oh, it's nothing. I'm sorry..." said Alice when she realized that she couldn't go any further with what she started.

"... Well, I think I had better get going now" said Fei, as he struggled to keep his voice even. Alice didn't need this kind of complication. Not on the day before her wedding night.

"Oh, OK... Be careful on that mountain path. And give my regards to Doctor Uzuki"

Fei nodded, and started to walk out the door again. He paused for a second as if to contemplate on whether or not to say something on his mind, but decided to keep it to himself. Without another word he walked down the stairs, and out the hut. Alice stood where she was, and then turned to face the wall again. "... Is this fate..." The wall didn't answer. Alice looked back down at the carpet, as if searching for answers. "I feel so foolish... Who am I kidding"

Outside, Fei silently walked towards the northern exit of the small village as he replayed what had just happened in his head. Alice's heart was going to be troubled for a long time, as will his. There was nothing the two of them could do about it, however, Fei was an alien to the village, and therefore the native born took precedence before him when it came to marriage. Silently, almost grimly, he continued towards the mountain path that would lead him to Citan Uzuki's house.


	3. The Mountain Path

DISCLAIMER: This is a novelization-in-progress of the masterpiece Xenogears from SquareSoft. I do not own the content of this, save for maybe the way I described "how" something happened. All characters, speech, and storyline are exclusive property and copyrighted by SquareSoft.

_The Mountain Path_

Fei walked across the grassy plains as he headed towards the trail that would lead him up to Citan Uzuki's cottage. It was around noon, and the sun still shone brightly in the sky. Prairie dogs popped their heads out of random holes as Fei strolled towards the path. The terrain was starting to get a little hilly, so he knew that he was fast approaching. On the right he saw the tree that he, Alice, and Timothy had spent so many afternoons together, lazing underneath the comforting bows of the old shade tree. They had talked about a variety of things from ranging from life, death, love, and war. All of which, they knew nothing about, but spoke of anyway. The wedding tomorrow marked an end to those afternoons, as Alice and Timothy would be too "grown-up" to do such things anymore. Fei felt a light stab of grief at the thought. He wouldn't be allowed to just hang out with Alice anymore. It would be inappropriate. In all of this thinking, Fei almost didn't notice when he arrived at the fork in the path on the mountainside.

Fei stopped to look at a sign that he must've read a thousand times before. There were two arrows pointing to the left and right on it. The arrow to the right read: Walking course. Watch out for the cliffs! Meanwhile, the arrow of the left read: Doctor's house. ...Right after the bridge.

"Alright! Let's go" said Fei to himself. "Doc Uzuki's house is over the bridge and up to the north." He walked a little up the path and then surveyed ahead of him. The path itself was a twisted, crazy thing that overlapped itself. Up ahead he could see that some of the path had collapsed, and there was a boy standing there. Apparently he couldn't jump across. Poor guy. Fei couldn't do anything about it however. Further along the rope bridge was suspended over a wide chasm.

Fei continued along the worn, beaten path. On the way, he passed by a berry bush, and a nest with some eggs in it. He plucked a few berries from it, and stole an egg. The berries would make a nice, quick snack on the way to the Doc's house.

The rope bridge was an old, almost ancient thing. Fei never liked it when he was younger, and the resentment of the thing remained. It always creaked and swayed when he went across it, and it gave him the feeling that it was going to snap. Which, one time, it did. He, Alice, and Timothy were playing on it a few years ago when one of the supporting ropes that had been attached to the guide-on snapped, making the bridge list to a crazy angle. Alice had slipped and almost fallen off, had it not been for him and Timothy. Warily, he crossed it without incident.

He could see the Doc's house now. It was rather large for being a simple cottage nestled in a cove on the mountain. It had a large telescope sticking out of the uppermost floor, which Fei thought was kind of cool. He could spy on the village below if had really wanted to. In the back there was a large crab-looking contraption nestled over the roof of a shed. That was were Citan usually worked at, but since there was no noise emanating from it, Fei decided to go inside to check if he was with Yui. He walked up to Citan's front door and let himself in. Yui was in the kitchen cooking the dinner for that night. Her daughter, Midori, was hanging about in the corner coloring in a coloring book.

"Oh Fei, welcome" greeted Yui.

"Hello, Yui. Where's doc..."

"My husband is tinkering with his junk out in the backyard."

"I should have guessed! Doesn't he ever get sick of playing with that stuff! Well, okay then, I'll go out into the backyard and see if I can find him." Fei turned around to walk out the door when he remembered the egg he had snatched. He pulled it out of his pocket and held it out to Yui. "Oh, I nearly forgot! Yui, I found this on the mountain path...Please use it to make a tasty egg dish for doc and Midori."

Yui took the egg and examined it. She seemed satisfied with it. "Oh, what a nutritious looking egg! Thank you. I'll use it for dinner."

Fei nodded to her and tried to walk out the door when he saw Midori by herself. He walked up to her, and bent down to a knee. She looked up at him, but said nothing. "Hi, Midori. It's a nice day to play outside. How about we feed the birds later" Midori didn't say anything. She never talked that much, and Fei never could quite understand why.

Fei was on his way to the shed in the back when a glint caught his eye behind a nearby bush. He walked over to it and knelt down to examine it. It was Midori's ring. Apparently she had lost it. Fei picked it up and slipped it into his pocket. He could give it back to Midori later as a surprise. Fei got up, dusted off his pants and walked over to the door of the shed. He knocked on it and called out for Citan.

"Where are you, doc" he called.

There was no reply. Then all of a sudden a resounding explosion shook the frame of the shed, sending plumes of smoke out of the crevices in the structure.

Fei was taken aback. "W, what's going on" he asked himself.

"Ohhh! This is no good! Why do they use such inferior parts? This is why their intervention strat..." said a voice from somewhere over Fei's head. He looked up to see a man in green on top of the crab-looking contraption over the shed.

"Doc! So that's where you were"

Calmly the man turned around and looked down at Fei. His face was painted black with soot. He seemed glad to have company. "Oh, Fei! Good to see you" He called out.

"Are you alright, doc? What are you doing all the way up there"

Citan paused for a moment, as if he was thinking about how to say what he was doing. He finally came up with an answer he was happy with. "I thought I would try to restore this Land Crab. Oh, and that explosion was nothing to worry about. It happens all the time." He laughed. Apparently explosions amused him or something. "Could you wait a while? I am just about ready to call it a day. Oh, yes. There is something interesting in the storeroom... Why not take a look"

Fei nodded to him. Doc always had interesting things to show him, even if he didn't understand what they were. "Okay, doc, I will. But please hurry up. It will get dark before you know it." He walked inside the shed. It was dimly lit. Light seeped in through cracks in the walls, and you could see the dust in the air dance in it. A yellow box stood out in the center of the room, about twice Fei's height. Fei walked up to it and examined the outside. There were carvings on the surface in a design Fei had never seen before. Below it, there were symbols that seemed eerily familiar to him.

"So this is what doc was talking about. Let me see... What's so interesting about it..." He reached forward to touch the surface of the box when it started suddenly started rumbling. The gears attached to it in the back started rotating. Slowly the box started to open. Fei jumped back in surprise.

"Wow!"

The box opened fully. Encased inside of had been an angelic looking statue with a sun hovering over it. Slowly, it began to twirl. A strange song started to seep from the contraption. It was a strange tune that Fei felt he had heard before. It filled him with a feeling of euphoria. The dust that had been caught in the shafts of light seemed to grow brighter.

"W, what is this..." said Fei. The tune sounded so familiar to him, but he just couldn't place it for some reason. "This music...? I've heard it before somewhere..."

"What do you think? Not bad, huh?" said a voice from behind him. He turned around to look at Citan.

"Doc..." Fei began, but he couldn't think of what to say next.

"Hello again Fei. Sorry to have kept you waiting." Fei stepped aside as Citan walked up to the box and ran his fingers over the angel's face. Fei looked at it with him. "Music is a mysterious thing... Sometimes, it makes people remember things that they do not expect. Many thoughts, feelings, memories... things almost forgotten... Regardless of whether the listener desires to remember them or not..."

Fei broke from his trance long enough to ask"Doc, what is this..."

Citan answered him while still looking at the pirouetting angel. "It was excavated from some old ruins, and is still under repair. Obviously it is an audio device of some type." He looked briefly at the floor before continuing. "Long ago people would listen to this melody, just as we are doing now... At times they would have been cheered up... While at times they would have been made to cry."

Fei looked at Citan briefly before turning his attention back to the music box. There was something about it that seemed so familiar. Citan broke his trance again.

"By the way, what brings you here today"

"Oh yeah, that's right! Alice asked me to borrow some camera equipment from you."

"Oh yes. Her wedding is tomorrow, right..." Fei nodded to him. "Understood. Well, we had better get them ready then." Citan looked at the wall tapping his foot. He had remembered something. "Oh, and dinner should be ready soon. Would you like to join us"

This was exactly what Fei had been waiting for. "Would I ever! I was hoping you would ask."

"I still have some cleaning up to do out here. Would you mind giving Midori some company back in the house"

"Okay. Take your time, doc. I'll go ahead and eat when dinner is ready"

Citan laughed. "Go right ahead. But, I will not be held responsible if you get a stomachache from eating my wife Yui's cooking."

Fei turned to leave, but when he got to the doorway, he turned around and looked at the music box. Citan stopped what he was doing and looked at him.

"Doc... I feel strange when I listen to this music... I feel something warm inside..."

"That just may be because you have someone living inside of you... ...And he too must have liked this music a long time ago before he became a part of you..."

Fei didn't say anything more. He just turned and walked out. Citan looked at the ground, deep in thought.

"Is Timothy and Alice's wedding really tomorrow... It might actually be better to live an ordinary life, in this condition... As a son of man..." He looked up and composed himself. "Well, anyway. I suppose I had better adjust the gyro at least..."

Citan walked to a different part of the shed when he noticed something strange. He stopped what he was doing and looked at the music box. Slowly the music slowed down and then died. The box started to rumble and then suddenly the statue of the angel exploded into a million tiny fragments.

"Huh...? This cannot be... Is... Is this... an omen..." Citan cautiously approached the box to examine it. "... Now, what is going to happen..."

Citan looked at the wall and thought on this.


	4. Fallen Shadows

DISCLAIMER: This is a novelization-in-progress of the masterpiece Xenogears from SquareSoft. I do not own the content of this, save for maybe the way I described "how" something happened. All characters, speech, and storyline are exclusive property and copyrighted by SquareSoft.

_Fallen Shadows_

Night had fallen over the Uzuki household. The air was cool, and crickets could be heard singing their mating song. Inside, Yui and Midori were taking the dishes from supper away to be washed.

"Mmmm! That was good! Your cooking never fails to impress me, Yui! Thank you for such a delicious meal!" exclaimed Fei.

"You're welcome. If you like my cooking that much, then I'd be happy to cook for you anytime, Fei! Oh, and the bread tasted really good because I used that egg you brought us."

Fei felt a twinge of guilt over the egg. He felt he did a bad thing…well…just a little bit! As if on cue, a rooster crowed in the kitchen.

"I will bring the equipment you need to the village tomorrow morning, myself...It does not exactly make me feel comfortable to have you handle such delicate instruments, I am afraid" said Citan as he prepared to see Fei out the door.

Fei turned and looked at the floor. "...Where have I heard that line before" he said to himself. He turned back to Citan and his family. "That's alright by me... Well, see you tomorrow, doc! Good night, Yui, Midori"

"Good night. We're looking forward to tomorrow's wedding!" called Yui as Fei started to leave.

Fei and Citan walked out the door into the cool night air. It was going to be somewhat difficult task picking the path out in the dark.

"Well, good night, doc."

"Yes, good night" said Citan as Fei began to walk down the trail. "Oh, Fei! Please be careful... Ah, I mean... the path is dangerous when it is so dark..."

Fei looked at him. "What's wrong, doc? There is nothing to worry about! Well, anyway, I'll see you tomorrow."

Fei turned and continued down the path. It was almost too dark to see what he was doing. Fei hated using the path at night, and he wondered why he didn't just stay the night at Citan's house. He came to the conclusion that it would worry the village chief if he never came home that night.

Fei reached the bridge. He was almost halfway across it when a low rumbling began to shake the ground. Fei looked up into the sky to see 4 giant machines flying low in the sky.

"What's that...? Giants..." inquired Fei.

"Fei!" shouted a voice from behind him. Fei turned to see Citan scrambling down the hillside trying his best not to fall.

"Doc! Some flying objects went toward Lahan!" shouted Fei over the din of the machines.

"So you saw them too! Judging by their shadows, they appear to be a group of Gears from our neighbor country, Kislev."

"Those were... Gears..."

Suddenly a red light flashed followed by a boom echoed throughout the canyon. The canyon walls reverberated the noise and rumbled the very ground.

"Oh no! They are headed directly for Lahan!" yelled Citan.

"The ones I just saw?" asked Fei.

"Let us make haste!"

"Right!"

Both of the men took off at full speed. Surprisingly, Citan pulled ahead and soon was out of Fei's sight. Fei couldn't believe how fast he was for being almost 30 years old.

It wasn't long before they reached the outskirts of the village. The place was a mess. Fires were burning everywhere. Timothy and Alice were already on the edge of town, surveying the destruction, oblivious of Fei and Citan behind them.

"No! Lahan's..." stared Fei.

A large explosion resounded and more fires broke out as the steel giants continued in the maniacal warfare. Gunfire could be heard sputtering over the din. The town had pretty much been completely destroyed at this point.

"Alice? Timothy" called Citan.

The two turned around, apparently noticing them for the first time. They both ran up to Citan.

"Doctor Uzuki? Fei" called Alice.

"Doctor! They just came outta nowhere and landed right in our village...!" yelled Timothy.

"I know. What on earth are they doing starting a battle here...? Are you all okay?" asked Citan.

"Yes! But it's Dan... We can't find him!" exclaimed Alice.

"I'll go look one more time! Alice, go ahead and get out of the village" said Timothy.

"No, Timothy, wait! You, Alice and the rest of the villagers should evacuate to a safer location!" called Citan.

"Doc, you know I can't just leave Dan behind!"

"Timothy..." said Alice as she looked at her fiancé.

"I understand how you feel, but leave the rest up to Fei and me! The primary thing you should be concerned with is your own safety... Timothy, your responsibility is to protect Alice."

"... But..."

"It's just as doc says. The two of you should get out of the village now! Don't worry about Dan. Knowing him, he has already evacuated and is waiting for you!" interjected Fei.

"... I guess you're right..." Timothy turned to look at Alice. She was frantically rubbing her hands together. "Okay! Alice, let's let Doctor Uzuki and Fei handle it from here"

"... Yes, okay. Thank you, Doctor" She started to leave with Timothy, when she stopped and looked at Fei. "But, Fei... Please look out for Dan."

"Yeah, don't worry. If he still happens to be in the village, I'll be sure to save him," reassured Fei. He was going to make it his priority to find and save Dan. He looked around and searched the faces of the villagers as they ran about frantically. None of them belonged to Dan.

"Now, both of you, hurry" yelled Citan. Alice and Timothy both turned around and ran from the village to seek shelter. Citan turned to Fei "I will go check inside the houses to see if there is anyone left behind. Fei, please go around the village and guide the stragglers to a safe location"

"Alright! But doc... You be careful, okay?"

"You too, Fei!"

Citan turned and ran into a nearby building, kicking the door in. Fei started to run to another house when the fighting of the gears snagged his attention. A shot zipped past his face and missed him barely. Fei jumped back and landed at the feet of a large black gear.

"Whoa" he yelled. He then noticed the limp figure on the ground. It was a man who appeared to have been the former pilot. He was already dead, shrapnel embedded in him. "... Ah..."

Fei looked up at the black gear. It was in the landing position. Like the music box, he felt funny when he looked at it. He could hear his heartbeat thumping in his ears, drowning out the sounds of gunfire, screams, and death. Inside the cockpit, he saw a red-haired boy in the cockpit of the Gear. At least, in his eyes he saw one. A swinging pendant flashed in his mind. He seemed to respond to this flash unusually, not unlike a reaction. He turned and looked at the pilot who had been flying the Gear, still lifeless at the feet of it. The pendant crossed and flashed again. Fei looked up at the red-haired kid in the cockpit. He seemed to be laughing. A sinister smile spread over the kid's face as the cockpit closed on him. Fei stood up straight, looking directly at the empty Gear. The dull thumping of his heartbeat increased, further deadening out anything on his mind. After a second, he ran towards the gear, and jumped onto the platform in front of the cockpit.

Citan came out of a nearby house just in time to see Fei board the black gear. He was horrified, and proceeded to run after him.

"Huh... Fei!" he desperately called out. "Wait, Fei!"

Fei jumped into the Gear's cockpit. A shifting sound resounded from the Gear. Suddenly, it got to its feet and turned around, looking ready for battle. It ran off towards the battle between the gears.

"Do not do this, Fei! You must not fight here...! Fei!"

Inside the cockpit, monitors all over the inside were blipping information back and forth. On the main screen, a message popped up:

NOTICE  
...XafbEWfadJZ... ...Linguistic Modifier enabled.  
Identified: Lamb, Ignas dialect No piloting exp. Easy Mode Set  
Synchronizing input interface with pilot's normal reflex time  
Warning to Pilot: C O M B A T M O D E About to enter combat! 1200 units of fuel left.

A klaxon sounded off inside the cockpit.

WARNING! Enemy Gears are now preparing to attack! Terminating Help Mode.

Two white enemy gears landed in front of Fei. Both of them held up their automatic rifles and pointed them at him. Fei lunged forward, and smashed the enemy's camera receptors with his gear's fist. Two more gears landed behind him, preparing to pepper his backside with a hail of bullets.

"Reinforcements, huh" shouted Fei as he turned to dispose of the new threat. Two more gears landed to his right and leveled their rifles at him. "On my right too! Damn it! How many of them are there..."

A far more sinister looking Gear, with a complete aura of confidence about it, landed behind the four Gears flanking Fei. Again, his heartbeat started to drown out everything. There was something familiar about that particular machine. The four Gears began to take shots freely at Fei's Gear, peppering his armor plating and sending ricochets everywhere.

"I guess... there's no choice... but to fight..." said Fei with an air of desperation. He rushed towards the 4 gears prepared to give the fight of his life.

Down in the village, Citan stood watching the battle between Fei and the four other gears, lost in thought. "Fei...! The way you are fighting... Oh no... This is not good! If 'he' awakens here..." Behind him, a voice called out.

"Doc!"

Citan turned around to see Dan standing on the windowsill of Alice's room, clutching a piece of cloth to his chest.

"Dan!" called out Citan. Dan jumped down from the windowsill and stumbled. Citan ran to assist him. "Are you alright? What on earth are you doing here? Do you not know how worried Alice and Timothy are"

Dan sat up and brushed himself off. "I'm sorry Doctor Uzuki! I got out of the village earlier, but I came back... ...I just couldn't bear to think of leaving my sister's wedding dress behind here..."

"You returned to save your sister's wedding dress..." Even in this environment, he couldn't stifle a slight chuckle. "Heh... You are such a sentimental little boy..."

A nearby explosion brought Citan down to earth. Taking a hold of Dan, the two of them dashed back towards the well, and took safety behind it.

"Let us evacuate to a safer spot while Fei has their attention" He turned to look at the giant black gear that Fei was piloting. "It appears that they are after that Gear Fei is in..."

Dan looked at him as if he had been slapped in the face. He turned and looked at the raging battle. "Fei's...inside that monster"

"Fei is bound... by the dark, cruel destiny of god..." said a grim-faced Citan.

"... Fei..."

"Come on now, Dan! We had better get away from here." Citan took a hold of Dan and started to run with him when another voice called out.

"Dan" The voice belonged to Timothy. Running, and out of breath, he stopped in front of the two. "I knew you were still in the village! Boy, I'm glad you're okay! Huh..." A gear landed beside him, looking right at him.

"Oh no...! Timothy" called out Citan. Frantically, he grabbed Dan, and dove behind some fallen, burning timber.

Timothy looked like an ant in comparison to the gear, but he still had its full attention. He looked up at in fear and awe.

"Uh..."

"Wait! Don't shoot" screamed Fei. Frantically, he started waving at the enemy gear that was bearing on Timothy. "Stop it! These people have nothing to do with you" Frantically, he started to run towards Timothy to protect him, but two of the gears he had been fighting deliberately moved into his way. "Timothy! Out of the way, you bastards"

The sinister looking gear that had been watching all the chaos noticed what Fei was trying to do. It looked down at Timothy, and then back to Fei. It signaled one of the gears, and made a motion with its fist. The gear it had signaled turned around and began to unload a hail of gunfire at Timothy.

"Stop it! I said sto-p i-t" screamed Fei into his intercom.

Timothy didn't have a chance. A flurry of bullets him in the chest and sent him reeling backwards head over heels. Blood sprayed the ground as he was killed instantly. Fei lunged forward in an initial reaction, but then settled back. Then the pendant flashed again in his head. He writhed in agony without warning, as if responding to the pendant's flash. A memory from his childhood that had been blocked out flashed in his mind. A young boy who appeared to be a young version of himself stood with blood on his face. The pendant flashed inside his head again, followed by same memory of himself as a young boy, but this time he resembled the kid that was in the Gear before, and his face broke into an evil smile. The pendant flashed again and then broke off its chain. Fei slumped forward in the cockpit, his hair falling over his face, and then he sat back up. He cracked the same sinister smile of the boy and giggled. Suddenly, huge amounts of energy dispersed from the gear. Everything was wiped out in its path. Gears, houses, and people. Alice, who had been hurrying back to the village, was caught in it. She could do nothing but look at her hands as she was wiped out by the blast.

"Alice!" screamed out Dan in grief and anguish. He had just witnessed his sister being vaporized. He tried to run out to her, but Citan grabbed him and ducked behind a ridge on a cliff they had taken refuge on. Dan could only scream in despair and disbelief. "Noooooo!"

The energy lit up the night sky like an orange ball of fire, as the energy exploded, wiping out the entire village. Then everything went black.

Fei woke up to the sound of bird's chirping. He was nestled against the trunk of the shade tree that he had once sat with Alice and Timothy. He sat up, and winced. His head hurt.

" Uh... Uhn...? Huh...! Where am I..." he asked. He shook his head trying to clear it, but winced again as the pain throbbed in his skull. He then noticed Citan, Dan and a few survivors from the village huddled nearby. "Doc" he called out.

Citan turned around, a worried look on his face. However, upon seeing Fei conscious, the worry lines ebbed away.

"Oh, you have finally gained consciousness, Fei..." he started off.

"Doc... What happened...? Where's Chief Lee, Timothy, Alice...? What did I..."

"Yes... Well that is..." he started.

"You murderer!" Dan had turned around from the huddle and was looking directly at Fei. Directly into his eyes.

"Dan!" scolded Citan.

"...? Dan, what do you mean...?" asked Fei. He was even more confused than ever before.

"Fei..." Dan turned to the side, so that Fei could only see his profile. Dan glared at him out of the corner of his eye. "It... was because you had to go get in that monster.. Alice and Timothy... The people of the village are all..." He stopped long enough to point at something behind Fei. "You killed everyone using that monster...!"

Fei looked at him in disbelief. He turned around and saw that the gear he had been piloting stood there. It dwarfed everything, even though it was standing a full level lower in the canyon. Behind him he could hear the whispers of some of the survivors.

"Why did you have to fight in the middle of the village...?"

"How do you even know how to operate such a monster...?"

"Mother...? Where mother...?"

"See, I told you so...I said allowing someone we knew nothing about into our village would spell disaster..."

"Owww... Hurts... It hurts..."

Fei turned around and looked at them. "Dan...!" he started to call out. He took a few steps toward the huddle, but they all shunned him and backed away as if he were a mass murderer.

"Yikes...!"

"No! Keep away... I'm scared..."

"Waaaaaaahhh..."

"Murderer! My sister... Give me back my sister!" broke in Dan. He was nearing the edge of tears as they formed at the corners of his eyes. His hands started balling into tiny fists.

"Dan...There is nothing to be gained from putting the blame all on Fei alone. What is more, you know Fei had no control over the malfunction of that Gear," said Citan as he tried to reason with Dan. He bent down to a knee to get his full attention.

"I... I know that! But... But..." He paused for a second as if searching for the correct response. Finally he blurted out"I HATE YOU!" He then turned around and took off crying.

Fei looked as if he was going to go after him, but stopped. He called out after him. "Dan..."

"It might be better if we left him by himself for a little while... He does not know what to do with his grief, his anger..." Citan turned and looked at Fei. "And Fei... It may be a good idea for you to leave this place. There is no guarantee that reinforcements from yesterday's unit are not going to come... They will probably want to know what happened to their comrades. Also, if you stay here, I do not think the atmosphere is going to be very joyful... if you know what I mean. It is probably best for both you and all the other villagers here."

Fei looked at him, and then the villagers. "I guess you're right... This disaster happened because I was here..." He looked off into the distance, towards the Blackmoon Forest. "But...what am I supposed to do now..."

Citan paused for a moment while he thought about it. "Yes, well... Why not go through the Blackmoon Forest and head for Aveh? I am sure those soldiers from yesterday were not from Aveh. If you can manage to get to the Aveh side, they will not be able to track you down very easily."

Fei nodded, still looking off into the distance. "Okay... I understand, doc..." He turned back and looked at Citan. "Well anyway... Please take care of the rest of the things here, doc."

Citan nodded. "Of course... Well, do take care now."

Fei turned around and walked towards the gear, and then stopped. He looked back at the villagers. They all had suspicious eyes, as he slowly scanned their faces. Only Citan seemed somewhat friendly. Fei took a few steps back from the gear, his back still facing everyone as Citan walked up the path behind him and stopped at a distance. He walked over to the edge of the cliff, looking at the Gear he piloted. He slowly looked up at the gear until it seemed they were making eye contact. He heard the voices echo in his mind as he looked upon it.

"_You killed everyone with that monster...! Murderer! My sister... Give me back my sister!"_

Fei shuddered. He couldn't keep looking at the monster. He jumped off the cliff to the lower level, and then walked briskly away from the gear and out into the world. He glanced over his shoulder briefly to see that it appeared that the gear was simply watching him leave. He shuddered again, and quickened his pace as he headed towards the Blackmoon Forest.


	5. Into the Woods

DISCLAIMER: This is a novelization-in-progress of the masterpiece Xenogears from SquareSoft. I do not own the content of this, save for maybe the way I described "how" something happened. All characters, speech, and storyline are exclusive property and copyrighted by SquareSoft.

_Into the Woods_

At last, Fei was broken from his reverie as he came upon the outskirts of the Black Moon Forest. He knew there were monsters inside, he knew how harshand uneven the landscape inside was, but he wasn't going to stop. He had nothing behind him, and he could only go forward. The farther he stepped, hemore and more he wanted to run, run from Lahan. Run from the smoking ruins... ...run from Dan's screams of anguish.

As he entered, a small flock of birds flew off into another tree, and a crow squawked in the distance. There were some knocked over trees and vines hanging around, and the landscape was uneven, forcing him to climb up roots and acrossfallen tree trunks to advance.

It took him quite a while before he came to small clearing, which he had made after rolling a boulder out of the way, accidentally squishing a hob. He was about to proceed into the next section of the forest when he heard a noise behind him. He was about to turn around when a voice yelled out.

"Ana haus!"

Fei turned around to see a woman leveling a pistol to his chest. She was wearing a rather odd uniform of white with black detail. It was actually more of a skirt than anything else. On the center of her chest was a green gemstone, and on her shoulders she bore some distinctive red markings. She seemed to carry an air of authority, although to Fei it seemed forced. However, he couldn't understand a word she was saying.

"Kah te nye? Ta, tah dyne tuna ahk va! Dah noul raun tak. Rahna koute! Uh..."

Fei just continued to look at her with a puzzled look on his face. After a few seconds, the woman seemed to realize that he didn't understand her. She shook her head briefly, and then spoke to him in English.

"Throw down your weapon. Make one wrong move and I'll shoot." As if Fei really could. He didn't like weapons, and so he never used them. However, he made sure she could see his hands. "Errh... Turn around" Fei just stared at her. This seemed to piss her off, so she repeated her order with more forced authority. "I said... turn around"

She began to approach Fei, albeit very slowly. He could tell she had never approached anyone this way and that she was nervous as hell.

"... Are you shaking?" he asked.

"Be quiet!" she demanded. She stopped to assess Fei for a few moments before coming to the conclusion that he wasn't _too _much of a threat. "... You don't seem to be one of the Kislev soldiers who are after me... but..." She slowly backed away from Fei. Fei took the chance to turn around and get a better look at her. However, this alerted her, and she trained her pistol on him again. "Don't move" she commanded. "I have orders to kill all surface dwellers-Lambs, I come in contact with... It's part of my mission. It's nothing personal." She paused as if to consider asking him a question. She finally decided that it was probably best to do so. "I have a question for you. ... How do I get out of this forest?"

"Are you... lost?" he asked.

This appeared to have pissed her off. "Just answer my question! How do I get out of here?"

"Sorry... but I'm looking for the way out of here too," he answered.

She looked disappointed then. "Oh..." Dejectedly, she looked at the ground, and allowed the pistol to fall to her side.

"How long are you just going to stand there like that? If you're going to shoot me, then hurry up and do it."

This caught the woman completely by surprise. This was the LAST thing she expected Fei to say. "What an odd thing to say! Don't you understand the situation you are in?"

Fei looked down at the ground, a noticeable slump took to his shoulders. "I don't care about my situation... I'm just a guy whose life is worthless... There's no point in me living anyway." He looked up at the woman and boldly took a step towards her, goading her to shoot him.

Rather than piss her off this time, it actually frightened her. "Sta, stay back!" she stammered. She retrained the pistol on Fei's chest, although now she was trembling, and could hardly hold it level. Fei took another slow step towards her. The woman closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, as if afraid of the recoil of the pistol as she fired off a single shot. It completely missed, whizzing three feet to Fei's left.

"What are you aiming at? Here! Shoot me here! C'mon..." Fei took his index finger and tapped his heart twice. He seemed really anxious to end his life.

The strange woman's tone changed from frightened to one of disbelief. "Are... are you mocking me?" she demanded. She had never met such a strange person before. She took a step backwards, and shook her head. "You're weird! Something's very wrong with you! You should at least resist a little bit!"

Suddenly a dark bluish figure dropped and hit the ground behind her. It was a Forest Elf. They were notoriously mean little bastards, and were even known to attack their own kind. She turned around and looked at the newcomer.

"What's this? Who are you?" This was all she managed to get out before the monster smashed her in the head, knocking her to the ground. She didn't move. It was just then that Fei actually noticed the monster. Suddenly he felt he had to protect the woman, and charged the beast.

"Stop! Keep your hands off of 'Elly'!" he screamed.

Fei made short work of the Forest Elf. He looked over at Elly's limp form and noticed that she was still breathing. He rushed to her side. "Are you alright? Hang in there!"

He then lifted Elly from where she lay, and hurried off down the path with her in his arms until he found a much larger clearing. Quickly, he ripped off straps of cloth from the hem of her skirt, and then ran off to a nearby creek to dip them into the water. When he came back he wrapped the cold, moist bandages over the knot on her head. She moaned lightly, but didn't wake. She had a small assortment of scratches and scrapes on her arms and legs so Fei took another strip of her uniform and wrapped them nice and snugly. Afterwards, he made sure she was comfortable and proceeded to build a campfire. There were two reasons for this. One was for warmth, and the second was to keep the night creatures away.

A few hours later, Elly began to stir. It appeared she had forgotten where she was.

"Good, you finally woke up! You didn't move for so long that I started to worry... How are you feeling?" The woman said nothing as she stared into the ground. Fei began to wonder if she could even hear him. "Do you still intend to kill me? Then go right ahead and shoot me! But you'd better not do it while we're in this forest. Forest monsters hate loud noises, you know!"

The woman still refused to say anything. She picked up a nearby twig and started drawing circles into the dirt. She was surprised when she realized that Fei hadn't even bothered to separate her from her pistol. As a matter of fact, he had securely strapped it back into its holster.

"Fine. Don't talk to me if you don't want to... But it wouldn't kill you to thank me for tending your wounds."

The woman looked up at him in surprise. She hadn't even realized he had done so! She looked over herself carefully and found that he had patched her up quite nicely, and even tended to some of the wounds that she had before she even encountered him.

"Th... thanks... but you shouldn't have helped me. Don't think it will save your life though. It really doesn't change a thing."

"What are you so afraid of?" asked Fei.

"I'm not afraid... I'm just being cautious" persisted the woman. It's natural for me to be this cautious considering I've met such a suspicious surface dwelling -Lamb-."

"Hm... Don't you worry. I'm not gonna do anything. Besides you're much more suspicious than I am," said Fei. He was right. The woman _did_ stand out more than he did. Fei had never seen anyone with such strange clothing before in his life.

"Huh..." She was puzzled.

"So, what's your name?" asked Fei.

"I won't give my name to a surface dweller -Lamb," she said stubbornly.

"What's with you and this 'Lamb' thing?" started Fei. "We're both lost in this forest, surrounded by dangerous monsters... Shouldn't we at least be cooperating with each other until we get out of here?"

The woman said nothing as she bit her lip.

"Good. So what's your name? It's going to be hard for us to cooperate with one another without at least knowing each other's names. Anyway, my name is Fei Fong Wong. You can call me Fei."

"I'm...Elhaym. But my parents call me Elly," said Elly.

Fei chuckled. "'Elly', huh? Somehow I already 'knew' that." He didn't know how he 'knew', but he did. She seemed somewhat familiar to him, although he had never seen him before in his life. She gave him a puzzled look. Fei saw this and quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, it's too dangerous to travel in these parts this late at night...Let's wait till daybreak before we continue looking for a way out of here...if that's okay with you?"

"I guess we have no choice, do we?" said Elly. She sat back down next to the campfire and fished for something in her pocket. She pulled out a strange looking biscuit and started chewing on it. From the look on her face, it was apparent she didn't like it. Fei decided it was best not to ask her what it was though, in case she should offer him some.

"Okay then Elly... How about having something to eat?" asked Fei. Somehow, he felt that she didn't need to be chewing on this biscuit that she so obviously didn't like. She looked at him for a moment, smiled, and then pocketed the offending biscuit.

Well this is my first attempt at a Xenogears fic. I hope you guys like it! I decided that since no one has ever completed the first two or three chapters of a novelization of Xenogears, that I would be the first to try. So far, I've beaten a few select websites. I would like to thank Omega Gilgamesh for the ideas for beginning this particular chapter. Please give me some reviews! It encourages me! On another note, what the crap is up with deleting punctuation from the uploaded files?


	6. Girl in the Woods

DISCLAIMER: This is a novelization-in-progress of the masterpiece Xenogears from SquareSoft. I do not own the content of this, save for maybe the way I described "how" something happened. All characters, speech, and storyline are exclusive property and copyrighted by SquareSoft.

_Girl in the Woods_

The sun glared angrily down upon him as he sat in the warm sand. His dirty, grubby cheeks were streaked with the trails of tears as they ran down his face while he sobbed uncontrollably. He wished he was a giant so he could reach up with his thumb and blot out the sun's unforgiving rays. He looked into the horizon, although blurry from tears.

In the distance, he saw a line of figures moving along the dunes. Surprised, he sprang to his feet and began running after them.

"Wait! Hey! Don't leave me here!" he called. "Wait!"

The figures continued moving along, faster than the he could keep pace. They eventually disappeared into the horizon. Defeated, he gave up and plopped back into the sand. New tears began to well up into his eyes as he began sobbing again. His tiny frame shaking back and forth in time with his sobs.

Suddenly, a shadow extended along the ground in front of him. He didn't notice at first though. He sat sobbing as thoughts raced through his head. _Where is mom? Where am I? What am I doing here?_ His heart burned at the thought of his mother. She was dead. He saw her die.

"You must be lonely here by yourself," said a voice from behind him. He looked over his shoulder to look up the owner of the voice. It was a young woman, not much older looking than he. What surprised him was the fact that she looked so much like his own mother. His heart ached at the thought of his mother, but the aching subsided when he looked up at her. She wore a simple robe, and around her neck she wore a cross-shaped pendant with a ruby inset in it. She extended her hand down to him, offering to help him up. He smiled at her as he reached up towards hers. Her voice echoed to the reaches of his mind.

"Fei...Fei...Fei...?" The voice started to change into another woman's voice. Elly's voice.

"Fei!" she said sternly.

He looked up at her with a puzzled look on his face. Was he dreaming? It had seemed so real, and yet, like a dream. Had he been stranded in the desert when he was younger? He didn't know.

"Fei?" Elly asked again. "Are you awake?" She kneeled down in front of him, inspecting his face. He gave her a nod and sat up, and stretched. He kicked out the fire that was still burning from the night before, albeit the flames were almost non-existant.

"Shall we continue?" he asked.

She gave him a brief nod, and they continued together into the depths of the forest. The going was hard, as they both tripped over roots and were scratched by itchweed. They walked for about another hour when they reached a stone bridge. Fei stopped to have a look around while Elly wandered off to find something to eat. The two of them sat down and ate in silence, avoiding the other's eyes. When they finished, they sat up, brushed off their legs, and continued across the bridge.

They reached another small clearing in the forest when Elly began to lag behind. Her eyes, concentrating in thought, were burning a hole into the ground. Something was bothering her.

"Fei..." she started. Her words pierced through the air, shattering the silence between the two. Fei stopped mid-step and looked back at Elly. She was approaching him now, but gone away was the cautiousness of yesterday. Gone was the hidden fear in her eyes. Now the crystaline blue orbs carried concern, almost worry. "Yesterday you said your life was worthless. What did you mean by that?"

"Why are you asking?" came his reply.

She couldn't believe her ears. "Why?" she asked. "Yesterday you looked like you had a deathwish. You think it wouldn't make me wonder...?" She could hardly believe she was talking to him like this. Ordinarily, she wouldn't care, much less even ask a common _surface dweller_ about the way he felt. Then it struck her as odd that a man like him wandering around in the woods was very strange, even for the surface dwellers, who were known to be very peculiar indeed. "Say, how did you get stranded in this forest in the first place?" she asked.

"I should ask you the same question," came his curt reply.

His abruptness caught her off guard. She struggled to find a suitable answer. "Huh? Well, I, errh..." she stammered.

But Fei didn't seem to be listening. He walked over towards a large tree. "I... ran away... from my village... or what's left of it..." he started.

Elly took a short breath. "Village...? You don't mean...?" she gasped. Fei still took no notice of her.

"Lahan... It was a small village that existed between this forest and the mountain range. I ran away from there."

Elly couldn't believe it. Was he talking of the same village? "That village...?" she started to ask, but Fei cut her off again. He was in his own world.

"It was a nice, peaceful village. Everyone there treated me like family," he began. She could tell that he was starting to get shaken as he recalled the incident. "Then, last night, a group of Gears suddenly appeared and started fighting right in the middle of the place. The village was engulfed in flames... I couldn't just stand there and watch Lahan be destroyed... So to try and save the villagers, I got in an empty Gear... without even knowing how to operate it. I just thought maybe I could do it... no... it was more like someone whispering to me... Someone whispering to me... telling me to do it... But it was a disaster! The village..." He was almost to the point of breaking now. He was staring into the ground, breathing rapidly through his nose while the tears welled up in eyes, threatening to spill across his cheeks and water the earth below.

"Was it destroyed by the Kislev army?" asked Elly. Fei didn't answer. He was afraid that he tried to speak now, he would lose control of himself. "Fei...?" she coaxed.

"No... The village was destroyed... by me..." he said between gasps.

Elly's eyes went wide as she took in what she just heard. _A -Lamb- piloting a gear and destroying a village? He must be disillusioned. How could a -Lamb- from a backwater village pilot a military grade gear, much less destroy a whole village? Not to mention why would he destroy the village he was trying to protect?_

"Yes. It was me. I destroyed Lahan. I'm sure of it..." said Fei.

"What do you mean you destroyed it? I thought you were trying to help save the villagers?" she asked.

"I did try to help. I actually took out a few Gears. But then I came under heavy fire from a new group of Gears... And then my friend... Timothy... was hit by a hail of bullets... Then I lost it... Everything just went dark..." Fei rubbed the side of his head. He was really struggling now. "I don't remember anything after that. The Gear I was in went out of control... Well, that's what doc said.

When I came to... the village... and everyone in it... was... Alice... She was such a... Alice and Timothy... Oh god...! Everybody... All such good people...!"

He broke. He fell onto his backside against the tree and planted his face into his hands. His breath ragged and short while he sobbed against his palms, the tears running races through the dirt that caked his face.

"Went out of control...? The Gear...? What about the village?" Elly was getting confused. Why did she care? She was going to shoot him once they left the forest, why should she even bother consoling a worthless -Lamb-? Fei, however, wasn't even paying attention to her. She tried to get his attention. "Fei?"

Fei looked up at her now. He was breathing a little more steadily now, but the tearstreaks were still visible on his face.

"...Yes, the Gear! If only those Gears had never landed in the village...!" His eyes burned with resentment.

Elly was sure of it now. He _was_ talking about the village. The village that she had landed in. The village that she had led the Kislevian army into. The village that was later destroyed. She had been on a secret covert mission to steal a gear from the experimental gear hangar in Kislev. The mission would've been a success had somebody not noticed the tiny changes in the guard schedule. A lapse of 30 minutes without a guard. That was all the time they would need to get in, rig the gear, and escape with it. It was their misfortune, however, that somebody had noticed the small change.

They were about halfway back into Aveh territory when the first shell exploded to her left. She checked her rear moniter to find ten Kislevian gears chasing her small group, and they were slowly gaining on them. For some reason, that bastard Shakan wouldn't allow her to take her own Solarian gear. She was stuck with an old, rusting piece of junk that had been sitting in one of his hangars for several years. Not even his common soldiers piloted such inferior machines! Now she couldn't even outrun her pursuers, and to make matters worse, the seal on her gear's slave generator was slowly growing a crack on it's aft end.

An hour later, a voice crackled on her reciever. "Damn them... They're still giving chase. We've entered Aveh territory... I'm not giving up now."

To her left, the owner of the transmission edged forward towards the front, gunning the afterburners in his jets. Suddenly, it's backside exploded into a ball of flame. Elly jumped, and watched as the burning gear descended towards the earth below. The voice crackled over the radio again.

"...That's done it! I'm at a disadvantage now." he breathed.

A thud followed by a violent explosion slammed into her backside. She looked into her system diagnostics as her machine shuddered in it's death throes and began to list. The radio crackled again.

"Van Houten! What's wrong? Respond!" a voice demanded.

"Sh, shrapnel... In my back. My thrusters' output is dropping. I can't maintain altitude." she gasped. The impact had caused a shower of sparks throughout the cockpit, and a panel to her right had exploded, sending pieces of micro shrapnel to pepper the side of her face, neck, and arm. Her blood began to slowly ooze through the fabric of her flight uniform, although all the injuries were minor.

"Damn it! Everyone land now! Regroup on the ground. We'll have to engage them!"

With great difficulty, she mananged to maneuver her dumbstruck gear to the ground. Right into a village. She cursed inwardly. This was the last place she wanted to land. The landing was a rough one, as she slammed forward into the control stick she had been gripping with both hands. The control stick rammed into her soft midsection with unforgiving force, knocking the wind out of her, along with a few drops of blood. A strange warmth began to spread throughout her midsection. She sucked in a breath, only to scream in pain. Her ribs were either badly bruised...or broken. As for the strange warmth in her midsection, something must've been torn.

Clumsily, she keyed the cockpit release, and stepped out of her wrecked machine. But in the middle of her daze, she lost her footing, and fell headfirst to the ground below. She landed on her back with a resounding thud, once again knocking the breath out of her small frame. Another spray of blood burst forth from her mouth. She needed to get medical attention immediately. Her condition wasn't life threatening, but it could certainly cause some implications.

She looked up to see that one of the Kislevian gears banking in the sky to turn around to bear down on her broken machine. Quickly, she scrambled to her feet and clumsily ducked behind her gear. Machine gun fire rattled and shook the frame of the once mighty gear. Pieces of armor plating chipped off and dug themselves into the ground at high velocities. Slowly, the bullets would dig themselves a hole into the other side of the gear.

She closed her eyes and braced for the impact that she dearly hoped wouldn't happen: when the bullets found the fuel tanks. The explosion would send shrapnel flying through the air, and shred her body to ribbons. Thankfully, the explosion didn't happen. The pilot must've figured that she was dead and mangled enough for satisfaction. With great effort, she stumbled off towards the nearby forest.

She was snapped out of her reverie when Fei spoke for the first time in several minutes. "If they had never come to the village, never started fighting there... Then I wouldn't have tried to pilot that Gear. It's all their fault... Not mine! They're the ones to blame. If they'd never come... none of this would have... ... if not for them!" Fei was looking angry now. He turned around to face the giant tree. He glared at it with hate. He began pounding his fist into the side of the tree as he drove his words home. "Them! Them! Them!" he screamed. Blood started to ooze out of his knuckles and form droplets on the grass.

"Enough of that!" blurted Elly. His rantings suddenly made her angry at him. He turned to look at her, a puzzled look on his face. "You're a coward!" accused Elly.

He looked at her in surprise. "A coward? ... Me?" he asked. _ A coward? I'm a coward? Because somebody barged into my home, caused my village to be destroyed, and me to be put in exile? I'm a coward because of this?_

"Yes, you're a coward. All you're saying is 'them, them, them'." Elly continued. "Don't talk as if you had no part of the blame, as well!"

"I'm to blame...?" said Fei, more to himself than to anybody else. How am I to blame? I was only trying to protect my home... It's their fault...they showed up and started fighting. I was only doing what I thought was the best course of action...

But Elly wasn't done with him just yet. She walked closer to him, looking him straight in the face, almost spitting on him. "Yes, that's right!" she roared. "Of course the direct cause of the battle was that a Gear made an emergency landing in your village. But all Kislev wanted was the Gear, right? They weren't invading or out to destroy Lahan. The real damage occured because you climbed in a Gear and tried to fight back!"

Fei looked like she had dealt him a blow to the face. He looked at the ground again. A coward...

"What ever made you get into that Gear?" she asked. But she didn't wait for an answer. "Not just anyone can pilot them! It takes training! There is no way a civilian could hope to pilot one! Besides... you should have been helping the villagers flee to safety instead! How can you blame the damage on a Gear when it was your decision to fight in it in the first place? Why don't you take some of the responsibility yourself? Why are you putting all the blame on others? That's just running away! That's what makes you a coward!"

Fei reflected on the words, which had been driven so forcefully into him. Maybe she was right. It was true that he had never used a gear before. What chance did he possibly have in successfully defending his home? If he hadn't boarded the gear, his village might not have been blown apart. The Kislevians probably would've just taken it, and been on their way. But no, he had fought in it, and as a result, his village was no more, and everyone was dead. No wonder he was exiled.

"Well, if you put it that way..." said Fei. "Yes... that's right, I am a coward!

I didn't realize my own strength and have been blaming what happened as a result of that on others.

I'm a pitiful excuse for a man. But... I just felt this rush of blood in me and I couldn't help myself! Couldn't help myself... or help others." His emotions overwhelmed him again, and he fell back against the tree. He slammed his face into his palms, and new rivers began to flow down his face.

Elly regretted what she had said to him immediately. She had been too harsh. Still, she couldn't understand why she cared. She was superior to this land dweller. The way he felt should've meant nothing to her, but here she was trying to comfort him.

"Fei, I, I'm..." she began, but Fei cut her off.

"Shut up!" he screamed. "What do you know? When I came to I was surrounded by piles of rubble... I didn't know what had happened or what I had done. I remembered absolutely nothing.

All I knew was that my hands could still feel what they had done. The only things that penetrated the Gear's barrier were screams... Screams accompanied by the stench of blood, the sound of crushing bones, and my own curses..."

His voice was starting to get hoarse, and Elly wondered if the noise might attract some more of those damn forest elves, but Fei kept going.

"Look!" he demanded. He sprang up from his seat and thrust out his hands to her. "Look at my hands! Can you hear their voices? Can you understand this feeling? The feeling of having destroyed your village with your own hands...? Of not being able to do anything for the children left behind...? Now they have nothing... I have nothing... I have nowhere... no one..." He sat back against the tree, whimpering into his palm. "I didn't want to get in it... I had no choice... There was no other way..."

Elly looked down at his pitiful figure. She took a few steps towards him, and reached her hand out, but then pulled back towards her body. This guy was unstable. He might hurt her if she stuck around. She backed away from him cautiously, and watched him for a few moments. Then she turned and walked towards the other end of the clearing. She would have to find her way out on her own. She took one last glimpse of him over her shoulder as she stepped into the brush.

"Why did I go and say that to him...?" she asked herself. She herself was guilty of similiar crimes. Flashes of memories went through her mind as she thought of her own incident one year earlier. The memories seemed to intermingle with the argument she just had.

_You talk as if it's not your responsibility!_

A chamber of blood, with bodies strewn across the floor. Their blood seeped in crimson rivers across the floor as she frantically shook her head, hoping to erase the fresh image from her mind.

_No... I didn't do anything!_

A young man looked up at her as she screamed in his face.

_They died because you had to pilot the Gear and start fighting!_

The chamber of blood again. She dropped to her knees. Blood was everywhere. Dripping off the ceiling, running down the walls, pooling on the floor. And the bodies. The bodies were so mangled... Some of the blood runs across the floor and covers her hands. She looked at her palms staring dully at the fresh blood that coated them.

_It wasn't me, can't you understand?_

The young man continued to look at her with bewilderment as she continued to scream at him.

_Not just anyone can pilot those machines, you know!_

Dead bodies littered the floor around her, their blood oozing through unnatural orifaces.

_I didn't do it!_

The young man again. He still looked confused, but anger slowly seemed to be seeping onto his face.

_Why don't you take responsibility?_

She's stood in the center of the dark room. A bright light cast down upon her as she squinted into the faces of the men looking down on her.

_I'm not so strong._

The young man looking at her still while she screamed at him.

_Why are you trying to put the blame on others?_

The blinding light forced her to look towards the ground as the men's eyes continued to pierce into her.

_I'm not even all that talented._

More blood. Flowing freely everywhere. Covering her world.

_You're a coward!_

_That's right! I'm a coward._

"Yes... that's right... I am a coward..." said Elly. She felt terrible. She had no right to talk to Fei like that. But now, she felt that she couldn't apologize to him. The damage was done. There was no turning back.

A loud thump resounded through the forest. Elly froze, and looked around her. _What the hell was that? _The thumping continued as she looked around her. Her blood froze in her veins when she found the owner. A rankar. A large green lizardlike beast that stood at least twice her height. Elly tried to run for cover, but it was too late. The noise from her argument must've caught it's attention, and began to bear down on her with frightening speed.

Elly dodged to the side just as it's razor sharp teeth went rushing past her. Her success in evading the beast was short lived as she saw the whiplike tail rushing at her. She managed to scream before she blacked out.

Fei heard the scream. He snapped his head up and sprang to his feet, his misery forgotten. He knew who the owner of the voice was. He sprinted to where she disappeared into the brush and stared down the ragged path.

"Oh no!" he breathed.

Fei took off down the ragged trail, his feet barely touching the ground as he sprinted, ducked, and jumped through the forest. Within moments he burst into the next clearing in time to see Elly being scooped up into the jaws of the mighty rankar.

"Elly!" he called.

The rankar turned to the source of the new sound. He dropped the price in his jaws and roared at the intruder. Fei stared him down. _What the hell am I going to do? There's no way I could beat this monster! But I'm not going down without a fight. Not for Elly's sake!_ He looked over at the crumpled heap that was Elly.

"Elly! Are you alright!" he called frantically. "Darn! She's unconscious!"

He looked back over to the rankar and saw its tail bearing down on him from above. He managed to jump out of the way just in time. He landed on top of the tail and sprinted up it's length towards the beasts face and landed a kick into it's eye. The rankar roared in irritation and pain as Fei pushed off from the eye and flipped back a safe distance. He looked around for a weapon that could possibly aid him in defending himself.

A few feet away, he spotted one of Elly's fighting rods. It seemed like such a flimsy weapon, but he knew better. He had seen Elly use it on a few of the monsters that lurked the forest, and knew just how effective the razor tipped weapon could be. Desperately he made a dash towards the rod. The rankar's tail smashed into the ground in front of him, tripping Fei but he used his moment to roll the last few feet and snatched the rod up into his hand.

The beast lunged at him again, but Fei took the initiative and dashed forward and rolled underneath the salivating jaws. He sprang to his feet and ran the rest of the way under the monster, carving a bloody trail into it's chest and stomach. The beast roared in pain and tried to turn to face him, but Fei made sure to stay underneath the beast, stabbing him the whole time. Blood gushed down out of the wounds and soaked into the ground, but this only angered the rankar more. It swept it's tail underneath itself, catching Fei by surprise. It caught him in the midsection and sent him flying.

Fei slammed against the base of a tree. He coughed in pain, and blood spilled from his mouth. He looked up hazily at the beast that was closing in on him again. _This is it. I'm sorry, Elly._

Suddenly a distant _whump whump whump whump whump whump _could be heard in the distance. Fei looked up into the trees overhead, but saw nothing. The rankar even stopped and looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. Soon, the noise was accompanied by the sound of splintering and cracking timber and something sliced into the tops of the trees. Fei looked to his right to see a familiar looking object in the sky. It was the land crab from Citan's shed!

"Fei!" called the good doctor from his perch. "Fei! I have been searching for you! Here, You can use this!"

He dropped a hulk that the land crab had been carrying. Fei recognized it immediately. It was the same gear from Lahan. Immediately he refused.

"Hey! Hold on a second! To tell me I can use it is one thing..." He looked over and noticed that the rankar was turning back onto Elly's prone, limp form. "Elly... Damn it!"

He turned to look back up at Citan who was hovering just above the treetops. He had to yell at the top of his lungs for Citan to hear him.

"Doc. I have a favor to ask! I will defeat this monster! But, if it looks like I'll go out of control like last time, then shoot me!" he called.

"Fei... Let us pray that won't happen!" Citan called back down.

Fei dashed towards the outstretched hand of the gear and hopped onto it, and from there, into the cockpit itself. The latch for the cockpit closed behind him as he sat himself behind the somewhat familiar control stick. Immediately, the gear's internal computers hummed to life, sending data back and forth between themselves and to sensors throughout the gear. The moniters blipped on in front of him, showing him the views to his front, sides, overhead, under, and rear.

He targeted the rankar and fired a salvo of machine gun fire into the rankars hindsection, taking care to avoid Elly. The rankar roared in pain and anger and settled his attention to the much bigger threat at hand. He charged into the breastplate of Fei's gear, knocking him back into some trees. The trees snapped in half like so many toothpicks. Fei balled up his fist, and slammed it into the side of the rankar's head repeatedly. The rankar, however, wouldn't let go of it's deathgrip around his gear's neck and squeezed it's jaws tighter. Fei stood up, holding the rankar to his midsection, and began to ram it into nearby trees that were still standing. The trees couldn't withstand the force of the blows and splintered under the impact of the rankar's backside.

The rankar's grip loosened, and Fei was able to rip it off of him. He threw it into the ground shaking the ground visibly. The rankar countered by sweeping Fei's legs out from underneath him with its tail.

Again, the rankar was upon him, clawing at his breastplate and drooling all over the camera receivers. Fei took the time to charge up the ether gun in his right arm before delivering a jaw cracking blow to the side of the rankar's head, shooting off the ether bullet at the same time. The force of the blow knocked the rankar off of him while the ether bullet itself created a hole in the side of the rankar's head. The bullet ricochet'd around the inside of the rankar's skull, turning its brain into a giant soupy mushball. It was dead. Blood was everywhere. But Elly was safe.

"Fei! Are you alright?" called Citan.

Fei knelt down in the now spacious clearing and turned off the power to his gear. The hatch to his cockpit opened and he hopped out onto the soppy, stinky, bloody grass. Citan had already landed his machine and had dragged Elly to safety, propping her against the base of a tree.

"Yeah... I guess so." said Fei. He looked over at the body of the rankar, still twitching.

"That fight with the Rankar was remarkable. An ordinary Gear could not defeat that monster. And you certainly keep yourself in good shape..." commented Citan. He was obviously impressed with the way Fei had dealt with the monster, despite his inexperience with the gear.

"Why did you bring this here, doc?" asked Fei.

"This...?" asked Citan, motioning to the gear. "You mean Weltall?"

"... Weltall? This is the Gear that destroyed our village." said Fei. "Why did you bother bringing it here? I never want to see another Gear again..."

"I understand how you must feel..." said Citan. "But, in order to protect yourself you need a certain degree of strength. Even more since we are being pursued."

"I agree that a certain degree of strength is needed for self-defense. And if it weren't for this Gear here, Elly and I'd be in that Rankar's stomach right now... But its power goes beyond what is necessary. Does one really need the power to destroy everything?" asked Fei. Citan just looked at him, not saying a word. "I don't need that kind of power... I just hate Gears."

"Fei, using power or being used by power... is that not a problem of the heart...? If humans do not use their power for wrong it can be a good thing... I believe such power can help us. In that respect, I know you will be fine. It sure helped you out this time. Am I right?"

"I want to believe that. But something is holding me back. This Gear..." He looked back at the gear, it's armor crimson red due to all the blood that been spilt on it. He shook his head in disgust, and turned back to Citan. "Well, whatever... At least Elly is safe now."

They walked over to where Elly still lay against the tree, unconcious. She began to stir, moaning softly into her chest.

"She seems to have come to." said Citan.

Elly stood up on wobbly legs. Instinctively, her hand went up to her head and rubbed it slightly, shaking her head.

"Huh...?" she groaned. She turned to see Citan and Fei watching her.

"I am Citan... a friend of Fei's." said Citan, stepping forward. "You almost did not make it. If Fei had not have helped you, I hate to think what may have happened. But I was not too pleased with his rashness in trying to take on that Rankar with just his bare fists."

"Bare fists?" Elly looked at him with a puzzled expression. _Bare fists? He tried to fight that monster with his bare hands? Was he crazy? _ She stole a look at Fei, taking note of the fresh cuts and bruises on his body.

"Well, I am glad that you were able to find a use for what I brought you." said Citan.

He turned and looked up at Weltall. Elly looked too and barely suppressed a gasp.

"Let us just say we are borrowing what the Kislev army left behind..." said Citan, matter-of-factly.

"... Oh." Elly turned to look at Fei again. A misty look almost in her eyes. "Thank you, Fei. This makes twice."

"Don't mention it. I'll just put it on your tab." he replied.

"It is getting dark. Let us make camp now and start out early tomorrow. The both of you look tired and I need to make some repairs on our friend here..." said Citan. His hand already found his chin, and his foot was tapping.

The fire crackled happily, sending figures of light dancing across the grass as Elly gazed into it. Fei lay nearby, curled up on the ground sleeping. Their wounds were freshly bandaged, and Elly was trying hard not to breathe in too deeply. Both she and Fei has messed up their ribs over the past few days, and both were careful not to give them any reason to hurt.

"It is no use. The knee actuator and bypass circuit are both ruined. The acutator can be fixed, but the circuit needs to be replaced..." said Citan, cursing silently under his breath.

He set a tool he had been using down on the plated armor of Weltall's knee, and jumped down into the grass. He looked down at Elly, still gazing into the fire. He cleaned off his glasses quickly before he spoke to her.

"Oh, having trouble sleeping there?" he inquired.

"Yeah..." said Elly. She looked up at him, the firelight dancing across her scraped and bruised face.

"I imagine you would. You have had quite a day." said Citan. He turned around and looked up at the gear. "This is the machine Fei used when the village was attacked. There was another machine left sitting on the outskirts of the village..." He paused briefly and looked intently at Elly. Then he spoke a language unlike what he had been using. Elly recognized it immediately. "Nil bayer dars legus? (It was yours, right?)"

Elly looked at him in surprise. _Huh? How does he know my language? He's just a surface dweller, isn't he?" _ Citan saw that she was still recovering from the initial shock of his words, but recognized that she knew what he was referring to.

"Just as I thought... The missing pilot from the Gear that made an emergency landing in Lahan... ...and the mysterious woman found wandering lost in the forest... are actually one and the same person. Judging from your uniform, I would also say you are with the military... Am I correct?"

"How...? Who are you?" asked Elly. She couldn't believe it. _Who IS this man?_

"I checked the ID tags of the soldiers who died in the attack on Lahan... The design on their tags and the design on your uniform there is the same." said Citan. Elly looked shocked for a moment. "Do not worry, they were given proper burials. But, they may not have been too pleased to die in a foreign land."

"... Maybe." said Elly, her voice trailing off.

"Does Fei know about you?"

"I don't think he has realized yet."

"Most likely... Fei knows nothing of the world outside of Lahan." Citan looked down at Fei.

"I see... So how come..." started Elly, but Citan must've not heard her, because he cut her off.

"... In any case, it is best if we do not pry into each other's pasts anymore."

"But..." Elly started, but Citan cut her off again. There was a look in his eyes that suggested that she not push the subject further. A look she had grown accustomed to when she was in training at Jugend.

"Let us just say that I know a little more about the world than most do." said Citan, continuing to stare intently at her. "Anyway, Elly... I have a favor I must beg you to do..."

"... What is it?"

"Go straight ahead and you will come to a road. Then just keep going... Would you please leave us while Fei is still asleep?"

Elly looked up at him surprise. Why was this man telling her to leave? She still had a few things she need to tell Fei before they were split up at the edge of the woods.

"Unfortunate things keep happening around Fei. I would like to protect him if possible..." said Citan. "I do not want him caught up in any vain struggles. I am also saying this for your benefit. Elly, you do not belong here. Go back to your family."

"Um... I..." started Elly. Again Citan didn't allow her to finish.

"Do not worry. I will not tell Fei what your true identity is. I will... just tell him you went to meet up with your family..."

"No, it's not that! I did something terrible to him... So... I want to... apologize."

Citan raised an eyebrow at her. "Something terrible?" he asked.

"Fei told me it was our fault your village was destroyed. Fei kept saying... 'if only they hadn't come...' Then, I called Fei a coward because he was trying to escape from the responsibility... But in fact it was me who was trying to escape from taking the blame..." She stopped briefly to allow this information to sink in. "If I hadn't crash-landed there, they would all still be living peacefully now. All those innocent people wouldn't have been caught up in that tragedy. But I accused Fei..."

"You are a rarity. I did not expect your people would ever think like that. To your people, surface dwellers are nothing more than domesticated animals, are they not...?" inquired Citan.

"'The Shepherds, -Abel-, took control over the surface dwelling -Lambs- ... possessing the right to give life and death unto them as they see fit...'" recited Elly. It was a teaching that had been driven into her head from an early age.

"Exactly. Yet you seem to feel responsibility toward Fei and the villagers. Why is that?"

"I don't know myself... At Jugend I was taught that surface dwellers were stupid and base...

... And that is why we have to control them... But..." She trailed off.

"But upon meeting Fei, something about him made you feel differently?" coaxed Citan.

"Yes. He's no different than we are... in fact he seemed more powerful. He possesses something... ... something we don't. He also risked his life to save me... twice."

"Most of your people would feel ashamed at receiving such an act. Yet, you are grateful to Fei...?"

"It's probably because of my father. He had an open mind to surface dwellers. My nanny was... a surface dweller. No one knew about her though... Besides... I am the same as Fei..." said Elly as she stared into the ground.

"The same?" asked Citan.

"No, nothing. Nevermind..."

"Hmm. I think I understand. I am sorry. After just saying we should not pry... It is my nature, you know? My wife says I am too persistent and that I talk too much. But, personally, I do not think I talk too much." Elly was beginning to agree with his wife. "It is probably best if you return home to your country. You really should not be here."

"I'll return to headquarters. But then what..."

"You are worried..."

"Yes..."

"Worrying is natural... 'Even I used to worry once too, you know?'"

"Oh, Citan..."

"Anyway, let me handle what to tell Fei... You had better go now."

Elly got up slowly, supporting her weight on the log she had been sitting on. She carefully picked her way across the clearing and towards another group of trees. She stopped briefly long enough to look back at Fei. _Goodbye, Fei. I'm sorry. _

A few hours later, Citan got back to work on Weltall. Fei had certainly had a fun time with that rankar. There was several hours of work to be done if he expected to get Weltall up and running again. He didn't even see Fei come up behind him.

"Has Elly gone yet?" he asked.

Citan turnd around to look at him over his shoulder. "Oh, so you were awake?" he asked.

"Yes, I woke up midway, so I only heard part of what you two were discussing." said Fei.

Citan frowned on the inside. He had been hoping to keep the information about Elly from Fei to protect him. Apparently, he failed at doing this. So now Fei knew the truth. At least part of it.

"Fei, she is..." started Citan. Fei cut him off.

"I know. It's not Elly's fault. What happened to the village is all my fault. I took out all my pent up feelings on Elly. I'm the one who should apologize."

"Fei, do not blame yourself. It was not your fault either. You were just trying to protect the village."

"Thanks, doc... By the way, how is everyone from the village going?"

Citan thought back to the village. Everything had been destroyed. The huts were mostly blown over, and the livestock had been killed. The place had stunk because of the smell of rotting flesh and blood. But, being the good doctor he was, he rounded up the survivors and instructed his wife to take them back to his house.

"Do not worry, Yui is taking care of them. I told her to leave soon and take them all to a certain place. They should be safe for a while. So you just worry about yourself for now."

"Okay, doc."

"Now to think what we should do next... Shall we leave this forest and head for the desert town of Dazil? We may learn what Aveh and Kislev are up to... not to mention getting some parts for Weltall. The leader of Aveh is not going to sit back and let the other night's fiasco go by unpunished!" warned Citan.

Fei and Citan headed off towards the edge of the forest. They had left Weltall behind for obvious reasons, and it was decided that it was better to hide there anyway. Suddenly the ground began to shake, and the air filled with a low rumble. Fei looked up into the sky. A huge battleship was flying low over the trees heading towards the capital.

"What is that...?" he gasped.

"I would assume it is an aerial battleship from Aveh..." said Citan.

"An aerial battleship? I've never heard of Aveh having anything like that." noted Fei.

"Of course it does not come from Aveh originally... Most likely it belongs to the Gebler forces stationed in Aveh." explained Citan.

"Gebler?"

"Special forces from the Sacred Empire of Solaris known as Gebler. I am sure you have heard something about them. They are an organization providing large scale military aide to the Kingdom of Aveh. They showed up in Ignas several months ago. Until then, Aveh was being routed by Kislev. But with Gebler's help they have managed to regain half their losses. They are now expanding their territory and gathering resources buried in the ruins." said Citan.

"I've heard the village elders talk about it... Is Elly a part of that?"

"Quite possibly so. Their group has superior technology and power. It is rumored they are here solely to get the resources in the ruins. I am surprised they are using something as powerful as that ship... It must be to supress the recent border skirmishes."

"So they are fighting the Kislev Empire?"

"Yes. It seems they have found new ruins on the northern edge of Aveh. Those ruins are under a five-hundred-year-old temple. Three weeks ago Kislev took over those ruins. Most likely they are fighting over that."

The two of them stood and watched as the huge battleship cruised away, eventually turning into a speck on the horizon. They then set off out of the forest. The trees slowly grew thinner and thinner as the ground below them got sandier and sandier. The weather was also starting to heat up and lose humidity. For some reason, it seemed oddly familiar to Fei. Like he had been here before. But that was ridiculous. Fei had never been outside of Lahan...

Whew! This chapter, without a doubt, is the longest one so far! I recently had to rebuild my computer from scratch so I lost everything before this chapter! Good thing I had the stuff on Anyway, I've began to get more creative with my writing, and am starting to add my own stuff into it. Did you notice? I think it's turning out pretty good, but I won't know unless you review!

Averlus


	7. Dazil

DISCLAIMER: This is a novelization-in-progress of the masterpiece Xenogears from SquareSoft. I do not own the content of this, save for maybe the way I described "how" something happened. All characters, speech, and storyline are exclusive property and copyrighted by SquareSoft.

_Dazil_

The sun beat down unforgivingly on Fei as he walked with Citan through the sandy desert. The place seemed so familiar as he looked out onto the horizon. In the distance, he could see the town of Dazil, just a shimmering blot on the edge of the world. At this pace, he should make it within a few hours, or at least by nightfall. He took a sip from his canteen, and placed it back into the pouch as his waist. Citan had been thoughtful enough to bring such supplies, seeing as how he's traveled before.

Fei thought back to Elly. Was she alright? She had left only the night before, but he hadn't seen any sign of her passage through the woods, save for a few dead monsters lying here and there. They had lacerations in their flesh from a razor tipped weapon - a rod, but that was all he saw. He hoped that she was alright.

Fei and Citan continued toward the town tirelessly in mostly silence. It wasn't wise to waste words in the desert. It was better to just drive towards your destination. Eventually, they stopped at an old, gnarled shade tree and had dinner. It was getting late, but their progress had been much rewarded. They would be in Dazil by noon tomorrow.

Fei looked up into the sky, watching as the stars made their debut for the evening. There were so many. At one time, Fei had wondered what it would be like to move amongst them, but that was just a childhood fantasy. Without a word he finished his supper, dusted off his pants, and helped Citan roll out the sleeping bags.

Morning came swiftly. The two travelers had a quick bite to eat before they packed up the sleepware for the last time. Dazil was calling to them. Together, they plodded off towards the town shimmering in the distance.

When they finally arrived, Fei was somewhat taken aback at the bustling activity of the town. People were everywhere! Merchants, mechanics, children. He walked a few steps inside the gate, taking all the activity in.

"This is...Dazil..."

"Yes, that is right. The desert town of Dazil." said Citan, nodding to confirm Fei.

"This town's lively."

"This is the center for all excavations in Aveh. People come from all over Ignas to try and find the resources buried in the ruins around here." Citan pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "We should be able to find out what both Aveh and Kislev are up to, here. And we also have to gather the things we need to repair Weltall."

"Repair Weltall..." trailed Fei.

He looked somewhat in a trance as he looked over the bustling activity. Lately everything that was strange to him seemed famliar at the same time. It was an eerie feeling that Fei was having to adjust to.

"Yes. We must exchange the broken parts to fix Weltall... Otherwise it will not be able to function at all! There is an 'Ethos' workshop in the southern part of this town. Let us go there, Fei." coaxed the doctor.

"Yeah, okay doc, let's check this place out then."

The two of them walked through the town, taking in the sights and activity. Fei stopped abruptly in his tracks for a moment as a gear walked right past him. He looked towards the outskirsts of the town where a massive hole was being dug into the desert earth.

"Huh?" he breathed. "That's amazing. They're digging right next to this town too?"

A robot digger walked by just then, it's pneumatic joints whooshing.

"This is an Aveh-run excavation site. The machines and Gears found here are valuable resources that could turn the tide of the war. They are indispensible to the war effort," said Citan. He paused for a moment, watching some workers strain to pull a knee regulator out of a hole.

"Anyway Fei... Let us move on. We have more pressing matters to do than taking in the 'sites'!"

Fei held back for a few moments. He didn't really see much use in repairing Weltall, but Citan was a mechanical genius/freak. He had to fix any machine he came across, and Weltall fit into that category quite nicely.

They walked down the street watching the excavations on the edge of town, when they passed by a couple of men sitting at a table outside the local pub. Fei caught a snatch of the conversation between the two.

"Since those Gebler forces came, Aveh's hardly ever lost to Kislev. I wish the 'Ethos' would give out some of those new powerful Gears."

Fei looked at Citan, curiosity gleeming behind his eyes.

"The 'Ethos'? What do Gears have to do with the 'Ethos'?" he asked.

"Only the 'Ethos' has the technology to maintain generator driven Gear. The 'Ethos' decides which Gear gets which generator in which country..." said Citan. He motioned for Fei to follow him into the nearby rental shop.

Inside was a man sitting behind a desk. He looked rather bored as he stared aimlessly into the wall opposite him. He snapped to the present when the travelers walked through his door.

"Hm? Haven't met you before. So you want to rent out a sand buggy too?" he asked.

"Sand buggy?" said Fei.

"A sand buggy is a special type of vehicle designed for the desert terrain," said Citan. "Its tires will not get stuck in the sand... You really need them for long desert trips."

The owner of the store pulled out a tablet and scanned down the list. He glanced up at them when he reached the bottom of the list, making a tsk-tsk sound.

"Sorry but all our buggies are lent out now. Do you want to wait for one?" He asked. "Some of those guys hunting for parts should be back soon." He set the tab back down on the desk.

"I see... Well then, we will come again later." Citan said.

The two of them stepped back outside into the unforgiving sun. Fei was thoroughly absorbed in the activities of the town. Being as hot as it was, he would've expected people to be inactive and indoors, but the case was completely the opposite here. It wasn't long before they reached the local inn, which doubled as a pub.

Inside the smell of spirits was strong, and the men laughed rauciously.

"Yeah, we did it!" exclaimed one soldier.

His partner answered with, "Ha-ha! We did it!"

"Who'd have thought it?"

"I didn't think it would go so well..."

"Sneaking in the night..."

"Follow after the army excavation teams..."

"Just like that... Poof!"

"...and steal their treasure!"

"Gyahahahahaha."

"Wahahahahahha."

The two were obviously drunk, and didn't notice that everyone in the pub could hear of their escapades.

"... This sure is a noisy place!" commented Fei.

"Well, in a place like this you have to expect this kind of atmosphere," answered Citan.

Fei was still unsure. "Yeah, but even so..." he trailed off.

Suddenly a man in a purple suit shoved the two rowdy soldiers away from the bar. Surprised, they both gasped.

"Yikes!"

"Shaddap!" scolded the strange man. He just stared the two of them down, not looking like he really cared at all. A hiccup escaped his lips and it was obvious he was even more drunk than the two on the floor. He took a few menacing steps towards them.

"Why're you all yappin' when Big Joe is here trying to drink in peace? Can't ya'all shuddup...? ...Hic!"

"Who'dya think ya are?" challenged one of the soldiers. "I don't care if you're Big Joe or Big Shmoe! You don't mess with me!"

The man called Big Joe started laughing from his belly.

"Gahahahahaha!" Just as quickly as he started laughing, he stopped and addressed the soldiers. "Yeah, you sure talk big. Can you dig for treasure as good as you talk?"

"What's that ya' say?" the soldier screamed.

"You're so tough..." started Big Joe. "Always lookin' for junk laying around... Why don't you do somethin' more productive for once?"

"If you ask me, You're a big pus--!" the soldier started. His buddy sprang up and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Hey, stop it... This guy's trouble. He's lookin' wild..." he said.

"Ah, shawdup! Just shut your trap!" the first soldier threatened.

"Gahahahaha! That's right... Run home to momma, little boys! Hicc!" laughed Big Joe.

"Uwup... Da-damn you! You'll keep!" The two soldiers bolted out the door, followed by Big Joe's laughing.

"Ha! Cowardly little punks!" said Big Joe. He turned around and walked back to the bar, where a fresh drink awaited him.

"Why, this man sure likes to make his presence felt!" commented Citan.

Fei walked up to the bar next to Big Joe and ordered a drink for himself. For no apparent reason, Joe just started talking to him.

"...hic... You drinkin' too? Booze is my life companion! Especially in a sucky world like this.

Everyone's searching for dough and dynamite... Ha, how unromantic," He laughed bitterly while he took another sip of his drink.

Fei looked at him long and hard. There was something familiar about this man. There was a quality to him that seemed ancient, but he couldn't quite place it. Big Joe didn't even notice, and just kept on talking.

"Me? What am I doing here? ... Whatever I please, I guess," he said. He took another sip. "You think you know about yourself? I could introduce myself right now, and by tomorrow be a different person. If you didn't understand that, I'll repeat... ... Hic! Don't count your chickens before they hatch."

Fei finished his drink and decided that he had had enough. He left a small tip on the bar and joined Citan outside. Again, the hot air hit him like a brick. Together, the two of them headed towards the large building on the edge of town. The symbol above the door indicated the place that they had been looking for. The Ethos workshop.

Inside there were several men hard at work on a gear that wasn't nearly as sophisiticated as Weltall, but working hard just the same. To the right, the hydraulic pistons pumped as the hand of the gear flexed.

"Wow... So this is the 'Ethos' workshop, heh, doc?" said Fei.

"Yes. The 'Ethos' workshops are the only places that officially repair Gears. Let us see if we can get the parts we need to fix Weltall here. As they say, time is money! ... So we should do whatever we can do as soon as we are able to," confirmed Citan with a small nod.

The two men walked over to another man who appeared to be overseeing the repairs of the unsophisicated gear. He looked up out of the corner of his eye and noticed the two of them waiting.

"Huh? How can we help you?" he asked as he pushed his cap back on his head.

"Sorry to bother you. Our Gear has broken down, so I would like to buy some parts to fix it," said Citan.

"Tough luck, huh?" The man clicked his tongue. "Can you tell me what make of parts you are after?"

"Yes, we are hoping to replace an X-29 model injection bypass circuit."

"X-29 model injection circuit?" The man's face cracked in slight disbelief and humor. "That's only used on the latest military models. We don't keep those kind of parts in stock here.

You can only get such special parts by placing an order at the 'Ethos' headquarters. This workshop is only for the repair of civilian Gears..." He trailed off and looked towards one of the workers who appeared to be having a problem.

"I see. Sorry to have bothered you."

"Sorry that we can't help you."

Both Fei and Citan turned around and walked out the door just as large bang erupted and a few loud curses. Outside the two of them headed over towards the bridge that overlooked the street.

"... Doc, do you have a moment? I need to talk to you." said Fei.

"Yes, of course, Fei..."

Together, the two of them leaned on the railing of the bridge as they watched the children play in the sand.

"So Fei, what did you want to talk to me about?" asked Citan.

"... Well doc, it's about Weltall... We can't find the parts we need, so is it alright if we just don't fix it?"

"Do not repair it? What is the problem, Fei?"

"Well, we've been able to come as far as Dazil on our own... So doesn't that show that we don't need Weltall as much as we thought. Actually, I've been thinking that once things cool down I want to go back to Lahan and help rebuild. That's all I feel I can do now..."

Fei shuddered slightly from a cold chill as visions of Alice vaporizing flashed through his mind.

_You killed everyone with that monster...! Murderer! My sister... Give me back my sister!_

"... I see. If that is what you want, Fei, then fine. But I think we should try and move Weltall as far away from there as possible."

"Move it away? But why do we need to do that, doc?"

"It is only my speculation, but... I suspect the incident that evening occured because the Gebler Special Force stole a Kislev Military Gear."

"Special Force... You mean Elly's group?"

"Exactly," said Citan with a nod. "When I examined the broken Gear in the village, I realized the Gebler pilot was riding a Kislev Gear. It must have had some new technology involved in it for the Kislev army to send pursuit forces after it."

"New technology?"

"I suspect that the Gebler Force was out to steal a new experimental Gear," replied Citan. He stopped briefly to clean his glasses before continuing. "I am sure news of the Special Force's failure has reached the capital. They will be investigating the Lahan area to reclaim whatever parts of the new Gear that they can find."

"Hold on, doc! Won't the Kislev army still be in Lahan too!" exclaimed Fei. He rocked back onto his heels for a moment as if struck by a blow.

"Most probably. And in that case, there will be a conflict between Aveh's inspection team and Kislev's pursuit troops. If they find where we have hidden Weltall..."

Fei didn't need to imagine it. He already knew that if the two were to come into conflict, it would spell more horror for the survivors of Lahan.

"The armies will fight over who gets Weltall... And right near Lahan too."

"So, to avoid any problems, we should move Weltall somewhere else right away!"

"But, we can't fix it in order to move it..." speculated Fei.

"Right. But staying here will solve nothing," said Citan. "Fortunately, this is the center of all excavation work in this country. There is bound to be some information on where we can find parts... Anyway, the fear is often worse than the danger itself... We should not let such fears hold us back!" He flashed a brief grin.

The two of them descended the bridge and walked back down onto the dusty road. Up ahead a sand buggy had appeared outside the rental shop they had visited previously. Citan looked at it with close scrutiny.

"This is a sand buggy. ... That is it, Fei! I have thought of a good way to get the parts we need for Weltall. Let us go back to the rental shop and rent out this buggy."

"What do you intend on doing, doc?" asked Fei.

"Well, leave it to me. Just you wait and see," replied Citan.

They walked inside to see the clerk still behind his desk. He recognized the two of them and nodded to them.

"The sand buggy you were waiting for is back. Do you want to rent it?" he asked.

"Yes, that is right. Do you have any we can rent right now?" asked Citan.

"Of course... the keys are in the ignition, you can take it now."

"Well then, if I may," Citan glanced at Fei. "Fei, I am going into the desert to search for parts for Weltall."

"Going to the desert? Doc, are you going to excavate some ruins or something?"

Citan shook his head. "The Kislev and Aveh armies are confronting each other in the desert all the time. There is talk that their forces often break into battle over the ruins."

"What does that have to do with that Gear?" asked Fei, genuinely puzzled.

"If I search the battlefields for the wrecks of such army Gear...I should be able to find the parts we need," Citan leaned in closer and whispered into Fei's ear. "Besides Weltall is a Kislev Gear, so we need parts from Kislev Gears."

"But..."

"Fei, you are such a worrier. Things have a way of working out," said Citan with a reassuring look. "You do not need to worry so much. Why not go kill some time at the bar until I get back."

"Doc..." said Fei, but Citan had already turned and walked out. A few seconds later, an ignition turned, an engine started, and he was gone. The clerk waved to get Fei's attention.

"Hey, are you letting him go out there alone? Lots of fights break out in the desert... it's a real dangerous place. I've heard about a group of pirates riding around attacking people on a sand cruiser. You really shouldn't let him go out there by himself."

Fei decided that Citan could take care of himself, so he left the shop and headed off towards the inn. Inside, he found that Big Joe was still there downing drinks as if he were drinking water. He took a seat next to him and ordered a drink, but Big Joe noticed him.

"...Hic... Where's your friend? There's a war on in the desert and he just goes wandering off there? If your friends are important to you, then don't let them get away. Especially if it's a lady friend... Gahahaha!"

Fei looked at the clock and decided that if Citan wasn't back in a few hours, he was going to go look for him. Citan never came back. Fei took a deep breath before he walked through the archways of Dazil, and into the desert.

WHEW! It's been forever since I last added a chapter. Sorry about that! I had been busy with school and lack of interest/inspiration to finish this chapter. I'm not sure if I'll have another chapter finished by the end of the summer though because in about a month from today, I'll be deploying down to Georgia for training. I know this chapter lacks a lot of luster compared to the chapter prior! Sorry!


	8. Desert Attack

_DISCLAIMER: This is a novelization-in-progress of the masterpiece Xenogears from SquareSoft. I do not own the content of this, save for maybe the way I described "how" something happened. All characters, speech, and storyline are exclusive property and copyrighted by SquareSoft._

_Desert Attack_

Despite the fact that it was much later than when he and Citan had first arrived, it was still incredibly hot outside. The waves of heat continued to dance off the sand. Fei had just crossed through the archways of Dazil and was already feeling a little winded. He looked upon the horizon and looked at the horizon as the sun started it's slow descent to the surface. He still had several hours left, but he couldn't afford to sit and admire the sunset.

He continued to head west toward the setting sun, when he felt the ground beneath him shake. He turned around in time to see two large Gears jumping across the desert pass over his head. Fei started to chase after them, but the Gears were way too fast. Soon, they were mere specks in the sunset, the sound of their pounding feet and hissing hydraulics growing fainter and fainter.

W, what are they!? Are they Aveh Gears? ... I'm worried about doc..." Fei muttered to himself. He turned around and looked at one of the massive holes the Gears had left in the sand. He watched them begin to rapidly disappear as the sand filled in the void. Fei thought for a brief moment that Citan might've had an accident and he was buried under the ground in this desert somewhere. He might've actually walked over him... He quickly pushed the thought out of his mind. Fei could still hear the faint sounds of the Gears in the far distance, and he turned back towards the source of the sound.

Guess I may as well follow those Gears,"

He took off at a slow pace towards the direction of where the Gears where headed. Running in the desert is hard work. You can't really get a lot of traction on the sand. Despite this, Fei picked the pace up considerably because he was starting to lose the trail of the Gears. The damn holes they made just wouldn't stay empty. Sand was just gushing into them. It was turning out in vain though, because the Gears were just getting smaller. Soon, he lost sight of them completely.

He ran out into a flat section of the desert. There were a few cacti growing intermittently. A scorpion skittered across the sand moving from rock to rock. Fei ran towards the middle of the clearing. He looked around for any sign of the Gears. He saw none. No hissing and thumping sounds. No rapidly filling holes. No nothing. His thoughts ran back towards Citan.

"How far has doc gone? ... And now I've lost sight of those Gears too."

Fei stood there for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do next. He kicked a rock and was surprised when a scorpion crawled out from underneath where the rock had been. He quickly stepped away from it. Wow, he was getting thirsty. When was the last time he had a drink of water? Fei sat down on a large rock and pulled out his canteen. He took two large gulps before securing it again. Again, he looked around wondering what to do. Where was he going to sleep? What was he going to eat for the night? Suddenly Fei felt a faint trembling in the ground beneath his feet, which exponentially increased with every passing second. It was accompanied by a rumbling noise. Fei began to look around to find where the noise was coming from.

"What's happening?" he thought.

He continued to look around to find the noise. He couldn't see anything, and the sound was starting to become deafening. A large shadow bathed him, and he looked up. He fell over on his back when he saw what it was. It was unbelievable.

A large saucerlike vehicle was coasting low over the dunes. It was _huge_. Impossibly huge to be in the air! The craft cast a shadow over every grain of sand that Fei could see for miles around. The vehicle must've been several hundred miles in diameter. Fei then noticed that the vehicle appeared to be composed of two parts. A large ring circled around a smaller inner core and appeared to be rotating around it. The whole thing was encircled in a reddish-orange barrier. It was unlike anything Fei had ever seen, much less imagined.

The saucer soon disappeared over a large dune in the distance. Fei took off sprinting after it. He wanted to see it again. He made it to the top of the dune and continued to watch the saucer coast low over the country.

"W, what the heck is that thing?" he wondered.

A familiar thumping sound could be heard and it grew in intensity. Fei looked to his right to see two more Gears jumping across the desert. These appeared to be different Gears than what he had previously seen. They were going in a different direction from a different location. It appeared as if they were following the large saucer.

"A different unit? Are they going toward the direction the saucer went? I'd better follow them so as not to lose sight of them..."

He took off running after them. But like before, they were slowly pulling away from him. After awhile, Fei began to feel really tired. It was getting dark out, and he was starting to have a hard time seeing in the distance. It seemed the desert seemed to go on forever.

"Does this desert ever end? It'll get dark soon, so I better hurry up and..." Fei was interupted by the sound of a motor. He looked over to his left to see a couple of soldiers ramping over the dunes on sandbikes some distance off.

"What's going on here?" Fei asked himself. "Gears, a flying saucer... and now these guys... I hope doc's alright!"

Another sandbike could be heard coming up on where Fei was standing. It sounded like a straggler. Fei decided that it would be better to have transportation than to be walking in the desert in the middle of the night. When he saw the bike ramp over a dune, he leapt in it's path.

"... Eeyah!" he screamed.

Startled, the soldier on the bike swerved sharply to his right. Unfortunately he lost control and flew over the handlebars. He flew some distance before he landed in the side of a dune. Fei watched the whole thing. It somewhat amused him, but he still felt a _little_ concerned for the guy. He looked back to the bike. It was upside down, but the engine was still running and the wheels were still spinning. It appeared to be in fine working order. Fei ran up to the bike, righted it, and straddled it.

"Errh, sorry about that! Just let me borrow this for a while!" he called to the fallen soldier.

Fei then gave it a couple of revs of the engine, and then took off on one wheel. The soldier had recovered by this time and was chasing after the bike, although a little clumsily.

"Hey, wait!" he wailed.

Fei rode the bike for what seemed like hours. He found he enjoyed ramping it over the dunes, as he did it almost non-stop. He was enjoying the air flying through his hair. It was getting late though. The sun had already gone down, and the moon was well on it's way up. The night air was starting to get a little chilly. He came to a clearing where the dunes were minimal. He started to gun across it when the ground underneath him exploded in a cloud of black smoke. Both Fei and the bike were blown into the air. Luckily, the bike took the blast. It landed some yards out a smoldering, wrecking heap, whilst Fei landed safely.

Then something crashed down behind him. He turned around and it was one of the Aveh military Gears. It was decked out in armaments. Shoulder cannons, ether guns, wrist blades, etc. Slowly the head turned and looked right at him. Fei almost had a bowel movement right there. He didn't stand a chance against this monstrosity. He turned around to run, and only got about 40 meters before another Gear landed in front of him, looking right at him. He was caught in a pincer motion. He turned around to run a few steps, but stopped cold because the first Gear had closed the distance between him and it. Frantically he looked between the two.

"What's with you guys?" he asked. "Aren't you overreacting a little for just stealing a motorcycle..."

One of the Gear's reply was to raise it's gun arm. Fei saw the bolt cycling in the chamber as a round loaded. He closed his eyes, waiting for the impact of dozens of 70mm rounds driving themselves deep into his chest, and tearing his body into little pieces as they tore through and detonated. When the sound of gunfire came, he felt nothing. He thought he was already dead when he opened his eyes and saw one of the Aveh Gears crumping into a heap, followed in close suit by the other. Fei looked at the two smoldering ruins in wonder and turned to where the source of the gunfire came from. He never thought he'd be glad to see what he saw. Standing about 70 meters away was Weltall.

"Ah...!"

Weltall kneeled down and rested it's hand on it's knee. Citan Uzuku stepped out of the cockpit and stood on the hand. He gave a little wave, and then crossed his arms as if looking at a disobediant child.

"Fei! I was looking everywhere for you," he said.

"Doc!" yelled Fei, as he ran over to Weltall. "You're alright."

"Yes, of course..."

Citan looked over to his side and a combination of concern and suprise painted his face. He continued to stare at it forever. Out of curiousity, Fei looked in the same direction as Citan. The two Gears that were supposedly smoking ruins were actually up and back on their feet, and looking as if nothing were wrong with them.

"Looks like we do not have time to chat," said Citan. "Fei, hurry!"

Fei gave him a puzzled look.

"Hurry and do what...?" he asked.

"I cannot use Weltall very well! Only you can use its full potential..." said Citan. "Hurry up and get on board!" He jumped off the hand and landed on the ground next to Fei.

"... A, a, alright," stammered Fei.

Fei jumped into the cockpit, and strapped himself into his seat. The hatch secured itself automatically. Again, the computers went through their self-diagnostic and began communicating with one another. The external sensors began to collect data, and all his cameras blipped to life. Fei cautiously reached for the control stick. Warning klaxons blared in the cockpit. One of the Gears had fired it's ether gun at Fei's forward sensors. Instinctively, Fei ducked in his seat. To his surprise, Weltall also ducked, and the ether blast flew overhead. The other Gear lunged forward to smash the pilot compartment with it's fist. Fei parried the blow, locked in his opponents wrist, and began twisting it until he could hear the sound of tearing metal and hyrdraulic lines being suddenly released. The fluid went everywhere as the Gear stumbled back minus it's arm.

The first Gear launched itself into the air and began firing it's 70mm gun in fully automatic mode. Fei simply turned his shoulder plates to the enemy and the rounds simply deflected off of it. Meanwhile, the one armed gear was prepping it's ether gun again. Fei dashed forward and punched the enemy Gear in it's hand, and with the follow-thru, his fist continued to travel through the enemy Gear's arm, shredding it up. The other arm, and most of it's shoulder was gone now. Fei spun around and kicked it's head off, and finished off the Gear by driving his fist into the chest compartment, and crushing the pilot.

He turned around to face off the last remaining enemy Gear. The enemy gear was dodging left and right trying to keep from getting hit, but it wasn't any good. Fei rushed forward, charging his ether gun in the process. He slammed it into the enemy Gear's chest and detonated the ether gun. With a series of explosions, the Gear went down for good.

Fei looked at the damage he had done. He couldn't believe that he had just done what he had done.

"I don't know how... but I beat them!" he exclaimed.

"HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"

Fei looked out his side camera trying to find the source of the menacing laughter. Standing on top of a stone pillar was a very sinister looking black Gear with it's arms folded. Fei suddenly realized that this was the same Gear that had overseen the attack of Lahan. A man wearing a purple and black cloak was standing on it's shoulder, and he continued to laugh that evil menacing laugh. It looked as if he and the whole Gear were giving off red and black flames, an aura of pure evil. The moon was visible behind them and the flames made it look blood red, adding to the sinister look.

"W, what the...?" started Fei.

"Your hot blooded desire for battle has not been tamed, I see," said the hooded man. His voice was raspy and old sounding.

"Who are you!?" demanded Fei. In the darkness of night, his face appeared to turn blue as realization showed on his face. His whole world became encompassed in the cloaked man's shadow. He heard several voices at once, but mostly his own. "Huh? Right...I know you. You killed...her." He was in a dark place, looking up and confused. "Her?" He looked at the ground and the pendant lay there. Broken. He heard giggling. He looked up to see the kid that looked like him...blood...all over his face.

"No." said the kid. His world became engulfed in flames. "It wasn't! Not me!" he screamed. He covered his face with his hands and kneels down. "I..."

"You coward." A low, resentful voice.

The little boy removed his hands from his face. The evil faced red-haired kid was standing before him.

"It was you!"

Fei snapped back to reality.

"You're the one from...Lahan...!!" he shouted.

Citan was standing at Weltall's feet. The wind was starting to pick up and dust devils were swirling about. He could hear the whistling of the wind as it wove between Weltall's legs. He was watching the exchange between the two Gears, and he noticed Fei spacing out.

"Here we go again..." he muttered.

"My name is Grahf... The seeker of power," said the sinister man as he introduced himself. "You certainly showed how much power you had back there in Lahan, didn't you, Fei?" He laughed cruelly.

"How much power I had? What are you talking about!" asked Fei.

"A greater power... is what I need to fulfill my mission," said Grahf. "I sent those Gears into that land as a catalyst to awaken the power in you... To make contact with you."

"As a catalyst!? You mean you caused that intentionally!?" Fei's hand immediately reached for the controls of his Gear. He was about to tear into this guy.

"That's right. The death of your loved ones..." said Grahf. "And you powerless against it happening... The grief, the screams from your heart born out of the tragedy...

There! That was the catalyst for triggering your power."

"You mean you attacked my village just to get me in that Gear!?" Fei felt himselft start to choke as the emotions came back. "Why!? Why did the villagers have to die...?"

"Who cares why! It does not matter how many of them died... They were wretched vermin, only living from day to day without ever fulfilling their prescribed destinies! And have you forgotten? You were the one who destroyed the village. I did not lift a finger." said Grahf.

"No!! I was just trying to save the village and its people! I never intended to destroy it!!" screamed Fei.

"Is that really so? Surely you have heard it? It is the very essence of you... the voice of desire from within you that craves destruction."

"Shut up! Even if that were true, aren't you still the one who caused it!? If you hadn't come, the village wouldn't have suffered the way it did!"

"Ah, so now you resort to blame? I see... That sounds like something 'you' would say. That's good. Your basic nature remains unchanged."

"Crap..." muttered Fei. "You said you need my power? What were you intending to do with it!?"

Grahf didn't reply for a full ten seconds.

"You know very well... It is to destroy... mother god..."

"D, destroy god?" Fei couldn't believe his ears. This whacko wants to destroy _God_?

"Yes, we will destroy god. That is our purpose... That is our destiny!"

"Don't be ridiculous! I won't get involved in such a thing! If you want to destroy your god, or whatever it is you're on about... do it by yourself!!!"

Grahf started laughing at him. It was a deep, throaty laugh.

"Hah, hah, hah... You resemble your father." he said.

"My father?" Fei couldn't believe his ears. Grahf just said he resembled his father. The father he never knew. "You mean my dad? You know my father!?"

"That was... a most delightful scream. I was enthralled by it," said Grahf. "Nothing is more beautiful than a scream of death."

"What did you do to my father!?" demaned Fei. "What happened between you two!?"

"Hmph, do you really wish to know? There is no use in you knowing it now."

"What!?"

"Your power is still beneath that needed for my purposes," said Grahf. "Anything unusable must be tried until it becomes suitable."

"What?"

The ground began to tremble under Weltall's feet. It had been happening so much though, that Fei was hardly caught off guard by it. He simply wondered what was happening now. But even with all the events that had unfolded today, he was stlil not prepared for what burst out of the ground.

"What the hell is that!?" he shouted.

It was a worm-looking creature. It was about 35 meteres long with pronounced ridges in it's carapace. It hundreds of teeth on the outer edge and inside of it's mouth. It appeared to be looking right at Weltall, and its drool started to run in streams out of it's mouth. Apparently it saw Weltall as a source of food.

"What will you do, Fei?" asked Grahf. "If you die here, then so be it. You may indeed gain some happiness from not knowing. But surely, that is not what you truly want...? If you want to know the truth... and that is what you want, isn't it Fei... then this is what to do... You must show me that you have attained the level of strength I require...

To do that you must destroy others by using your own strength! Then you will gain all that was lost in exchange for that scream of death! Ha, ha, ha, ha!!"

And with that, Grahf ascended into the night sky, still standing on his Gear's shoulder. Fei called out to him and watched him rise soundlessly until he couldn't see him anymore. Who the hell was that guy anyway? How did he know his father? And why has he taken this sudden interest in him?

"W, wait! We're not finished talking yet!!" It was no use though. Grahf was gone. Now all that was left was this monster. Fei looked at his computer and was surprised to see information about the monster come up. Apparently it was called a Wyrm, and that it normally was a peaceful creature. They hardly ever come to the surface and they are vegetarians.

Regardless, this wyrm was not looking very friendly, and showed it by charging at Fei. Fei had just barely put his arms up to shield himself when the wyrm closed in on him and had it's jaws open to swallow him whole. Fei caught the edges of the wyrm's mouth. This was going to be a battle of strength, and Fei couldn't afford to lose. Not after learning what he had just learned.

With all his might, he pushed into the control stick, trying to push the wyrm's jaws away from him. He kicked at the sides of the creature while his arms held off the menacing jaws. Soon,he had several small holes punched in the side of the wyrm where he had visciously kicked it. But the worm still didn't seem to be giving in. Warning lights and klaxons were going off in the cockpit. The servos in Weltall's arms were overheating and about to give out.

Fei noticed a flashing red number one on his console. Not quite sure what it was, he pushed it. The lighting in his cabin dimmed a little bit, but the results of the button press were dramtic. With a gigantic heave, Weltall had broken the wyrm's jaw. Fei continued to pry at the jaws while simultaneously firing his 82mm shells into the wyrm's throat. Finally with a sickening ripping noise, the wyrm's body became two pieces. Blood and other bodily fluids were everywhere.

Immediately, the gear began it's shutdown sequence. The cockpit hatch opened up and Weltall kneeled and helt it's hand so that Fei could walk out. He looked over to his right at the wyrm's carcass. What a bloody, needless mess. He sighed and shook his head. He was looking at Weltall's knee. It was busted again. Fei began curse himself. Citan snapped him out of his reverie.

"Fei!" he yelled. "Are you alright!? Fei!"

Fei looking glum, said, "... I'm fine... The Gear seems to be broken though..."

"I am so glad that you are unharmed, " said Citan. "The Gear had only temporary repairs made on it. They were not made to survive an outright battle like that."

Fei said nothing. It appeared he was spacing out again. Citan waved his hand in front of his face.

"Fei?"

Suddenly, with a loud thump, two Aveh military gears landed on either side of Weltall. Their weapons were trained on the two.

"Oh no! The Aveh Military! Not now...!" exclaimed Citan. "Fei, I think we should remain calm... ...?" Citan looked at Fei. He wasn't even paying any attention to what was going on. "Fei?"

The sand cruiser trudged through the desert sand. It was huge. About 300 meters long, and very loud. The exhaust blowing sand everwhere as it plowed towards it's destination. On top of the cruiser, there was a large black Gear strapped to it. Weltall. With nothing stopping it, the cruiser continued it's noisey voyage to Aveh.

Citan sat on a crude looking bunk and looked at his surroundings. The walls were metal, but rusty and covered in grime. A rat skittered along the paneling where the wall met the floor. Fei was lying asleep on the bunk in front of him. Every once in awhile, he would groan. He was sweating profusely. Partly because of the intense heat, and partly because he was having a nightmare. Citan watched him, wondering what it was that Fei was dreaming about. He watched him groan and toss again.

His world was a thunderstorm. Rain pounded on his shoulders relentlessly as the lightning crashed, the thunder rumbled. The wind was blowing torrentially as it whipped through the grass. He could vaguely make out three figures standing some distance away from him. He squinted his eyes in the darkness to see who they were. He watched as two of the figures erupted into red flames, while the third burned a blue color. Lightning struck, and he could see that one of the men was Grahf, the other was a red-haired man who resembled the kid that Fei thought he had seen in the cockpit of Weltall before Lahan was destroyed. They both seemed familiar to him, yet different. The third man was someone he didn't recognize at all, but yet he seemed to know him. Something about him was very familiar...

"Let us join together." growled Grahf. His eyes began to glow red, and then turned white.

"I never thought we'd meet again like this. It must be... fate," said the man that Fei couldn't place. "How ironic. But... I'll never let you have him." The red-haired man just made an evil looking smirk, and giggled. The other man just closed his eyes for a moment, as if contemplating something. Finally, he said, "Even if it kills me."

His world turned pitch black, and then turned into the inside of a cell. He was lying on a bunk. Sitting on the bunk across from him was Citan. Fei got up and moved over to the corner of the filthy room.

"How are you, Fei? Did you sleep well?" asked Citan.

Fei only glanced at him a moment before looking down at the floor. His depressing mood just emanating from his very being.

"Huh? Ahh... well... sort of..." came his reply.

Sorry I messed up... I was careless," said Citan. "That Gear is a top secret experimental model from Kislev... It was only natural that Aveh would also be madly searching for it." Citan gave Fei a once over. "Fei? Are you hurt? You do not look so well."

"Well... I suppose you could say I was hurt..." said Fei. He shuffled his feet, kicking a piece of lint across the floor.

"That man in black...spoke of your father's fate... Is that what is wrong?" asked Citan.

Fei shuffled to the other side of the room, and leaned up against the wall, staring at the floor.

"There is that too, but..." said Fei. He paused, as if to think about what he wanted to say next. "It's the other stuff he said... What happened at Lahan... was all planned to get me to ride in that Gear... Or so he claimed. That's got me worried..." Fei looked up at Citan and walked across the room to him.

"To get you to ride in that Gear...?" said Citan, as Fei was walking to him.

"Doc, before the village was destroyed, I lived without doubting myself." said Fei. "But it's different now. I don't... know who I am. I've never felt like this before..."

"Well we cannot do anything as long as we are prisoners... even if we wanted to." Let us rest a little. Maybe it will sort your feelings out a little."

Fei lay on the bed for a few minutes. He turned over a few times as he tried to find a comfortable position. Eventually he gave up and sat on the edge of the bed.

"No, doc, let's talk a little more about this," said Fei.

"Are you worried about your father?" asked Citan.

"All I know is what the maids at my home in Lahan told me..." said Fei. "One night a strange masked man carried me to Lahan. I was heavily wounded at the time... In my delirium I called out for my father... That's all they could tell me about my background. I don't remember anything of my father or my past... So I guess I'm not really all that lonely or sad..."

"Let us rest a little," pushed Citan. Fei ignored him.

"Doc, why didn't I notice that I had no memories up until now?" asked Fei.

Citan didn't say anything except, "Let us rest a little. Fei glared at him for a moment, but resigned himself and trudged back over to the bed. He lay down on it, and fitfully messed with the blankets before turning over to face the wall. Citan watched him for a few moments before retreating back into his thoughts. He mulled over the last few day's events. It was all too obvious.

"It was him! No mistake... That was no coincidence," he thought. "Could it be that we are approaching the -Time- of the -Gospel-...?"

In his mind he was in a dark room, debris floating everywhere. He was standing on a makeshift platform in front of a throne. On the throne sat an emperor, his face concealed by a mask. In the backround, he could hear a clock ticking the time away...

"Yes, the -Gospel-," said the Emperor. "We are the people expelled from paradise and forced to live on the cruel surface of the earth. We who fill this land will once again return to the presence of god in paradise and live there eternally. That is the -Time- of the -Gospel-. That -Time- is at hand."

Shards of light erupted from his throne as the clock continued to tick away somewhere in the darkness.

"We, the Gazel, must find god's resting place by then and resurrect him," he continued. "That is our final prayer..."

"Our final prayer?" asked Citan.

"Our final prayer is to escape from the - Fate- that was determined by our genesis."

Citan looked over his shoulder to see that Fei had gotten out of the bed and was sitting in the corner, pondering over something in his mind.

"Majesty...is this the end...?" he thought. He turned around and walked over to the edge of the bed. He sat on it and continued to think about what was going on.

Out in the desert, someone was watching the sand cruiser through a scope. It pored over the details of the cruiser and finally resting on Weltall, still strapped to the top.

"Bingo! Just as the report said. An Aveh transport. And look what we have on top..!" said a voice behind the scope. "No mistaking it! That's a new Kislev model! It has to be the stolen Gear everyone is after!! Whatever the case... There's no way we are going to let that Shakahn guy have it..."

The scope retracted back under the sand and sealed back into the bulkhead of the underground sandcruiser that it had been attached to. A pirate had been looking through it. He was wearing a patch over his left eye. Dressed in white slacks, and a red, sleeveless jacket, he looked very much the part of a pirate.

"Gunner!" he shouted.

"Turret A 'Anton' and Turret B 'Belta' can initiate their ectropometers twenty seconds after opening their hatches," said the gunner.

"Franz!" shouted the pirate.

"I don't hear anything other than the flowing sound of the sand... No suspicious radar activity detected!" came the reply.

The pirate strutted over to helm of the ship. He looked over at his crew.

"Marseilles!"

"Maitreya's units are on standby at the catapults," said Marseilles. "They'll all be able to launch one minute after we resurface!"

"Good! Let's do it! BattCon level 1!" shouted the pirate.

An alarm goes off in the bridge flashing a light and making a brief buzzing sound. After awhlie the buzzing stops, but the light remained on.

"Surface-combat, ready!"

"Torpedo room, ready!"

"Anti-Gear guns, ready!"

"Navigation and Engineering are also ready!"

At the back of the bridge, the door opened up and an elderly looking man with white hair and glasses walked in. He looked concerned.

"Y, young master! What is happening? What was the alarm all about...?" he asked.

Behind him, the door opened again, and the First Mate walked onto the bridge. He was taller than the elderly man, but was much younger. He was wearing a white uniform. He too had white hair, but was wearing a patch over his right eye.

"Not again...? Young master! Hold on a second!" he called.

The young pirate wasn't listening though. He continued on with his assault.

"Battle stations, everyone! Surface navigation, begin operating the sand pump! Prepare to fire starboard cannons upon surfacing!"

"Young master!" shouted the First Mate and the elderly gentleman in unison.

"Trim to the right! The wind is strong up there and we may be blown off balance!" shouted the pirate. "... Jerico! Hand the helm over to me!"

Back in the cell, Citan was still sitting on the bed. He glanced out the window, and noticed something strange. Both him and Fei rushed over to the window and looked out.

"Look! What is that...?" he said.

Outside an incredibly large, dark colored craft began to emerge from under the surface. It had a yellow 'Y' inside of a circle painted on the bow. It was rocking back and forth as it surfaced and it was keeping pace with the cruiser.

"A sand cruiser... It must be those desert pirates!" yelled Citan. He watched as the cruiser disappeared behind a dune briefly.

The cruiser was all the way out of the sand now and easily matching the speed of the sand cruiser that Fei and Citan were in. Two double barreled guns began to rotate and bear down on the other cruiser. A few seconds later, they both fired. Citan watched as the rounds flew through the air and collided into the side of their cruiser. The impact nearly knocked both him and Fei off their feet.

Back in the pirate cruiser, voices were shouting over one another. The pirate was standing behind the helm, his arms crossed with a smirk on his face. Behind him, the elderly gentleman and the First Mate were still fussing about what was going on.

"Alternate firing between A 'Anton' and B 'Belta'! Calculating adjustments!" shouted a voice over the din.

"Aww yeah!" shouted the pirate. "Switch modes over to salvos after the initial shots! Let's slow 'em down. Get ready to give them a spankin' they won't forget!"

The elderly gentleman ran up beside the young pirate and tried to get his attention.

"Young master, please wait! It may just be a requisitioned ship, not a warhip..."

"Let me handle this!" interupted the young pirate. "Whether it's a warship or not, it's carrying a new Gear! Gunner! Let 'em have it!"

Fei and Citan were having a hell of a time. The floor beneath them was twisting and contorting and the whole ship was rocking back and forth as the rounds impacted on it's side. Fei was wondering what was going on. He looked out the window again just in time to see another salvo of rounds impact on the bow of the cruiser. He looked over at Citan to see that he was holding onto the bed to keep himself steady. They had to get out of here, or else things wouldn't end very well for them. Citan glanced out the window briefly before ducking down again.

"Oh-oh!" he shouted.

The craft shuddered again, and the room began to tilt to the side. Explosions resounded throughout the ship, and they could hear the soldiers outside the door running back and forth and shouting to one another. Citan looked out the window again.

"Judging by the angle...it seems as if a gun blast has made a hole in the hull..." he said. "We will probably sink within minutes."

Fei couldn't believe his ears. "A few minutes..." he said. "Doc!!" Citan walked over to the door and peeped out the porthole. He tried to open the handle, but it wouldn't move. He grabbed it with both hands and began to wrench on it.

"It is locked...somebody free us! Argghh!!"

Another round impacted on the ship. The ship began to list even more noticeably. Citan back away from the door as it began to make strange ceaking noises. A few seconds later, it blew off the hinges and sand flowed in. Both Fei and Citan were knocked off their feet momentarily as the sand swept them to the back of the room and pinned them to the wall. After several moments of struggling, they managed to free themselves. Fei ran over to the open doorway. Sand was still piling in in volumes.

"Let's get out of here, doc!" he shouted. The both of them ran out the door. Sand was flowing in torrents all over the place. It was hard to move anywhere without losing your footing. It was almost as if they were trying to walk through river rapids.

"There is a switch for the sand barrier door on the ride hand side of the wall there!" yelled Citan. "But be careful... Once it is closed it cannot be opened again."

Fei struggled against the sand and managed to get a hold on some piping overhead. With some carefully times swings and jumps, he got over to the other side of the room to flip the switch. The sand door closed, and the flow momentarily stopped. Fei ran back over to where Citan was standing and the two began to make their way over to the hold. Pipes and electrical boards were bursting and sparking everywhere. In some areas they could look outside into the desert through the holes that the rounds had made. Soldiers were everywhere, running amidst the chaos. Finally they reached the hold.

"Whew, that was close," said Citan. The two continued their uphill struggle to reach the top of the cruiser. More rounds impacted on the bulkhead, throwing debris everywhere. One of the soldiers that was hiding behind a set of pipes was blown out of the side of the ship.

It was a few minutes before Fei burst through a bulkhead door and made it to the top. He looked behind him to check if Citan was still with him, but he was gone. Wildly, he looked around to see if he could spot a trace of the doctor.

"Doc!? Where did you go, doc!?" he called frantically.

Somewhere above and behind him, he could hear the good doctor's reply. He looked up to see Citan sitting inside of a crane, moving the arm around. Fei wondered briefly just how the hell he got up there.

"Fei! Can you hear me? I am moving the crane towards Weltall's cockpit," he called. "Hurry! Go up the crane to Weltall! We are goinig under fast!"

"... I got you, doc! But when you're done, you hurry up there too, okay!?"

The crane shifted to where Fei was standing. Quickly, he scurried up it and made his way across it to the cable to the end. He muttered a quick prayer and slid down the cable just above the prostrate Weltall. He looked at the Gear wondering if it could overpower the straps that were holding it down.

"Here we go again..." he said. "You and I seem to have a fated relationship!"

Once again, he sat in the cockpit and all the computers powered up and began to take in information from the sensors. The moniters all around him flicked to life to show him all the views around him. He jerked the control stick forward and the Gear surged to life, ripping the restraints apart like toilet paper. He stood up and looked around. He spotted Citan standing on the deck next to the crane. He walked over to where he was standing and held out his hand.

"C'mon doc! Over here! Hurry up!"

Citan jumped onto the outstretched hand just as it closed around him. Fei manuevered the Gear around and jumped into the air. The jet's on Weltall's back flared to life and and they flew off.

They only flew a few klicks out before they landed on some hardened sand. Fei turned around and focused his cameras on the sinking cruiser. It was pretty much gone now. A few explosions rippled out the side of the ship as more piping and fuel tanks burst.

"Wooh..." said Citan. He jumped down onto the ground and paced around a bit. "Whoops..."

"Are you okay, doc?" asked Fei.

"Ha ha ha... Well, Doctor Citan Uzuki!" he said. "Feels like you have sacked your saccules and tickled your utricles enough for one life time! Wow, dizzy!"

"Sorry about that, doc! I didn't have time to open up the cockpit..." apologized Fei. "Are you really okay, doc?"

"Fei, I was only joking," said Citan. "Ridiing in the hand was not so bad. I can see what is so good about this top secret experimental Kislev machine."

"Yeah," agreed Fei. "When I started it up, it began doing all kinds of stuff by itself... The enviromental response system and weight-reduction hovering kicked in straight away...automatically!" Apparently Fei had been studying on some of the components of his Gear.

"Really...? Amazing...!" exclaimed Citan.

"Save yourselves but leave your friends to sink in a sea of sand... Don't you believe in comradeship?" said a voice.

Citan and Fei both turned to find the source of the voice. Some distance away a large red Gear with a plume on it's head. The Gear had a patch welded over it's left eye, and plume extended from it's forehead. Two other, smaller red Gears of a different design were flanked behind it. Behind the trio, the pirate's sand cruiser was stopped a distance away.

"It's not very manly of you two to leave your platoon to die while you run away in a Gear, you know?" said the lead Gear. It surged forward and slung out a long chain whip. The whip smashed a nearby boulder to pebbles. Apparently it had every intention of attacking.

"Wait one moment!" shouted Fei. "We're not Aveh soldiers!"

"Hm. Can't you make a better plea for your life?" taunted the Gear. "You come jumping out of Aveh ship and claim that you are not Aveh soldiers! Stop trying to fool me!" It swung it's chain-whip at Fei, but he managed to catch it.

"I tell you, it's true!"

"Tsk, How pathetic are you?! Even if you're the pettiest of soldiers, how's about showing a little spine... ... and put up a decent fight!"

The Gear continued to attack Fei, but it wasn't having much luck landing a blow.

"Stop it! I'm telling you I'm no soldier! I don't want to fight!" insisted Fei.

"How nauseating! Why don't you stop grumbling, leave the Gear and run away?" With a quick flick of it's weapon arm, it finally managed to land a double-combo attack. However, the attacks were somewhat weak and didn't do any damage at all. "For someone who doesn't want to fight, you're quite powerful... I see, an all-enviromental model... so that's it, huh? Now I want it even more!"

Fei sighed and decided that there was no backing out of this fight. He took up his fighting stance in time to catch the chain whip as it streaked toward his head. He wrapped the chain around his wrist and jerked the enemy Gear towards him. This threw the other Gear off balance and it staggered toward him. Fei jumped into the air and planted his foot into the chest of the enemy gear and kicked it in the head as he did a backflip. He landed some distance away, and with the whip still in his hand, he gave it another jerk and the enemy gear face planted onto the ground.

Thrusters on the Gear's chest fired and it righted itself within a few seconds. It charged forward again and it lashed out with it's other arm. It caught Fei off guard when another chain whip streaked out. It caught him in the shoulder and made a dent in the plating. Sparks from the impact showered onto the sand below. While Fei was still paying attention to this, the other whip came out and around his ankles and swept him off his feet. Now he was staring at the sky. The enemy gear cruised over and planted a foot on his chest and waggled it's forefinger at him.

Fei smirked, and with both hands, he grabbed the Gear's foot and with his left leg, he wrapped it around the enemy's leg. Pulling with his hands, and pushing off with his leg, he swept the gear onto it's back. Fei sprang up and mounted himself on top of the Gear, and began bashing the chest plates on the Gear. The other gear lashed out one it's whips and wrapped it around Fei's neck. It pulled him off and somewhat threw him off to the side. He sprang back up, mostly unharmed, but the other gear was hurting. Unsteadily it stood back up, sparks shooting out of it's chest and hip zones.

Suddenly the ground began to shake beneath them. The sand began to part under the enemy's feet, and despite the hovering thrusters, it began to sink into the sand. A few moments later, Fei too, began to sink.

"Oh-no! This is not good!!" shouted the pirate. "In the heat of battle, I go get caught in quicksand! Damn. Me of all people!"

Slowly the two began to sink into the sand. Soon they were completely immobile and steadily sinking beneath the surface.

"Damn! It's all your fault!" accused the pirate. "Boy are you going to get it later. So be damn ready!"

"Why!" shouted Fei.

The two continued to sink into the sand. Soon, Fei felt his legs get free. He kicked them back and forth for a few minutes before he noticed that he was sinking a _hell_ of a lot faster now. He soon realized why when he found himself free-falling through a cavern. They have sunk through quicksand and fell into cavern. With a few button pushes and a few quick flicks of his control stick, Fei managed to land the Gear safely. He looked over to his right and saw that the red Gear was already on the bottom. It probably sank faster because it was so much heavier. He could see that the pilot was dismounted and walking rapidly over to where he had landed his Gear.

"Hey, come down here now! I'm not gonna kill you. All I want is for you to leave this gear... Huh?" Fei had jumped out of his cockpit and landed at the pirate's feet. "Hey!? You're not an Aveh soldier?" This just appeared to piss Fei off. He began to close in on the pirate.

"I told you that in my intercom transmission earlier. You're the one who refused to listen to me, right?" He looked as if he was about to punch the pirate in the jaw.

"Ha, ha, ha. Sorry, sorry. Yes, I remember you were saying something like that," said the pirate. "I went off half-cocked and thought you were the enemy. Uhh, ahem... My name is Bart. I'm the pirate that works this territory."

"My name is Fei. I was arrested for no apparent reason, shoved into that Aveh transport ship... ... And was nearly going to be sent to a concentration camp until you went and blew the thing to blazes. Anyway... I'm glad to have been able to survive."

Bart walked back towards his gear a bit, and then stopped to look up at Weltall.

"I see... Well, I'm glad I at least helped you out a little," he said. "But I didn't expect a civilian like you would be riding in a military Gear. Besides, this Gear is a brand new model. I've never seen this type before.

Fei turned to look at Weltall himself. There were some dents here and there, and some scratches all over the place.

"Let's just say that a lot of things have happened... It wasn't like I wanted to pilot it!" he said. He turned to look at Bart. "Where are we anyway? Looks like we fell into one wierd place. I've never heard of huge stalactite caves such as this existing under the desert before."

"What? You don't know anything, do you? Where are you from?" asked Bart. "The desert only covers around 1,000 sharls of the outer layer of the earth. The stratum underneath that consists of igneous rock."

"From a sea of trees to a sea of sand... and now a stalactite cave... What's next...?" murmured Fei.

"What are you talking about?" asked Bart.

"Oh, nothing... Never mind..."

We're in trouble... Look, the hole we fell through has disappeared," pointed out Bart. "We'd better find some other way out... So, you wanna call a truce for now? ... At least until we find an exit and get out of here."

"Yes... agreed," said Fei. "First, we gotta find the way out of here. So, let's get going."

Back on the sand cruiser, numerous Aveh soldiers were standing on the dock. Some were visibily shaken, while others had soiled themselves. Still, there were others who were unaffected by all the crazy events. They were being watched over by several members of the pirate ship's staff, including a nurse, and an overwatch.

"Phew, thank god... I didn't wanna dry up and die in the desert..." said one soldier. He got up and started to move towards the open hatch at the back of the dock. He was quickly stopped by one of the pirate workers, who rebuked him.

"Hey, you! I know you're tired but don't go any further than there!" he said.

"Shut up! You sunk our ship! Don't you forget that!" came the reply.

"No, you shut up! Just be thankful that you were saved!"

"Excuse me..." said the nurse. Everyone looked at her. She didn't normally speak up about anything. "Is there anyone who is almost dead, with no arms and legs, or in need of an abdominal operation!?" She looked around fleetingly over the faces of the crew and captured. "No one...? Well that's depressing..."

The First Mate looked down on the squabble from below. He was standing next to the outside helm. A few feet behind him, Citan was also watching the small chaos.

"I see... So your 'young one' has not just been shooting at anything and everything then, Sigurd." said Citan.

"Yes, he actually calculated this attack... ... or so he says!" replied the First Mate, Sigurd. "As you can see... no one has died this time, either."

A red gear, similiar to Bart's gear, Brigandier, strode up to the side of the ship. It was making a lot of noise, as if it needed a lube job and a tune-up. It addressed Sigurd.

"Sigurd, sir! The collection of the goods and soldiers from the Aveh transport is almost complete. We still can't locate the young master... General Maitreya's platoon will scout around again."

"Okay. I'm counting on you," said Sigurd.

"Yes, sir! Since I'm part of the unit I'll also excuse myself." And with that, the gear turned around, and flew away.

"So what happened to the 'young one' you call 'master'?" asked Citan. Sigurd turned to him.

"He fell into an underground cave with that other guy in a Gear," came the reply. "It's near an old excavation site, and he is riding in a Gear, so he'll probably be able to come up somehow. We'll try to find him for a while, and if that doesn't work, then we'll wait for him at our meeting point."

"You seem to trust him a lot..."

"Trust him... Yeah, I trust he'll get us into trouble," said Sigurd. "But I never thought I would meet you here, 'Hyu'..."

"It is not coincidence. It is an inevitable consequence... I assume."

"... Hyuga... Are you saying something is about to happen?" asked Sigurd.

Citan said nothing, and simply stared out into the desert.

It's been over a year, I think. I finally resumed my novelization of this great RPG. For those of you still waiting to read my work, thank you for being patient. This particular chapter may be edited for creative purposes in the future, but for now I don't have much time. I'm currently serving in Iraq.


End file.
